NFC zu H9

RESEARCH AND THE LAST YEARS OF THE WAR

In 1948, Willi Baumert admitted that he had travelled to Berlin to the »Führer’s Chancellery« to find out the aims and purpose of the »children’s department«. Hans Hefelmann told him that research was being carried out on children and young people to determine the causes of their impairments. The results were to contribute to the prevention of diseases and disabilities. In addition, the »Law for the Prevention of Hereditary Diseases« was to be improved.

Excerpt from the transcript of the autopsy of 338 children and adolescents, in this case Friedrich Daps, dated 23 March 1942.

Private collection, Institute for the History and Ethics of Medicine, Hamburg.

On the one hand, the research was carried out through observation and intelligence testing. On the other hand, the children and adolescents were physically examined. For this purpose, blood and cerebrospinal fluid were taken and organs were removed from the children’s bodies. A room was set up in the basement of House 25 where the corpses could be opened. Willi Baumert carried out 338 such operations and removed the brains. He examined them and wrote everything down.

Interview

He gave many organs to the University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf (around 37 donations are documented). Wafer-thin sectional preparations were made there. When Willi Baumert had to return to the war effort in August 1944, Max Bräuner took over the removal and examination of the brains.

Microscope slide with section by Marianne Begemann, University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), 1942.

Institute for the History and Ethics of Medicine, Hamburg.

These are the names of the children and adolescents whose brains and other organs were donated to the University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE):

Anita, Helga and Helmut Volkmer, around 1937.

Private property Marlene Volkmer.

The first brain to be sent to Hamburg for research was that of Helga Volkmer. She was murdered on 30 November 1941 and was one of the first victims of the Lüneburg »child euthanasia« programme. She is proof that the Lüneburg »specialised children’s department« did not begin its work in 1942 with the first »Reichsausschuss« children, but with the arrival of the children from the Rotenburg institutions of the Inner Mission.

Interview

It is a black-and-white portrait photograph. Hans Jacob is wearing a suit with a light-coloured shirt and a large polka dot bow tie. His sparse hair is carefully combed back. He is looking to the left with his mouth closed.

Hans Jacob, after 1945.

Lawrence Zeidman: Brain Science under the Swastika. Ethical Violations, Resistance, and Victimization of Neuroscientists in Nazi Europe, Oxford 2020.

At the UKE, brain researcher Hans Jacob used organs from Lüneburg for his research. He worked for the »Reichsausschuss« (Reich Committee). Many brain researchers collaborated with »killing« and research institutions. Hans Heinze (Görden) and Julius Hallervorden (Berlin) were even present at the murders of patients in order to begin their examinations and start their collections immediately after death.

Willi Baumert was particularly interested in children whom he suspected of having Hurler syndrome. This is also the reason why there were so many brain sections taken from Heinrich Herold from Duingen.

Interview

It is a black-and-white photograph. The children are standing in front of an Opel Rekord. Heinrich and Helmut are wearing light-coloured shirts, Irmgard a light-coloured dress. She is also pushing a doll's pram in front of her. All three children look happy.

Heinrich Herold, Helmut Sievers and Irmgard Herold (from left to right) in front of their family home in Duingen, 1938.

Privately owned by Holger Sievers.

It is a black-and-white photograph. It shows a pram standing in front of a plastered house. A child is sitting in the pram. It is wearing shorts and a shirt. It seems to be looking at something at the edge of the frame and is looking to the side.

Privately owned by the Schäfer family.

This is the last photo of Heinz Schäfer, taken in autumn 1941. A few weeks later, he was admitted to the children’s ward in Lüneburg and died shortly afterwards. His parents couldn’t believe it. His father travelled to Lüneburg and had the coffin opened to make sure. Heinz’s head was bandaged. The family could not explain this, as Heinz had officially died of »diphtheria and catarrhal pneumonia«’.

Interview

The families were not told that the brains had been removed. Heinz Schäfer’s death was a constant source of speculation within the family. In 2012, brain specimens stored at the UKE were identified as belonging to him. The family was informed of his true fate for the first time. After many decades, they finally received an answer to the question of why Heinz’s head had been bandaged. Willi Baumert and Hans Jacob had used his brain for their research.

The transcript fills half a page. It is yellowed. It is typed on a typewriter.

Transcript by Willi Baumert on the examination of Heinz Schäfer’s brain, 1942.

The transcript was entered into a template. The categories were filled in using a typewriter. Only the notes on microscopic specimens were written by hand.

First page of Hans Jacob’s notes on the examination of Heinz Schäfer’s brain, University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf, 1942.

Institute for the History and Ethics of Medicine Hamburg.

These extracts contain shocking images. Showing them is controversialThese extracts contain shocking images. Showing them is controversial.

Decide for yourself whether you want to open the pull-out.

It is a colour photograph. It shows a large ceramic tub. The rim is about 5 cm high and slopes down towards one corner. The tub is very dusty and dirty. There is a drain in one corner.

Tub for opening corpses, ca. 1941.

ArEGL.

In October 2023, this tub was found in the basement of House 25, the location of the former »children’s ward«. It is highly likely that this is an autopsy tub. Traces in the basement rooms of House 25 indicate that the bodies of the children and adolescents were not taken across the institution grounds to the official autopsy room at the time, but were opened on site in House 25.

These are disturbing images. They show a boy and a girl in great distress and miserable conditions. The identities of the two children are unknown. Willi Baumert used the photos for his »research«. They are degrading, horrific images. They show, without mercy, the brutality and inhumanity that the children had to endure in the »children’s ward« in Lüneburg. That is the only reason we are showing them.

It is a black-and-white photograph. It shows a naked boy. He is malnourished. His stomach is bloated. His joints protrude. His hair is short. He appears to be standing unsteadily and h
It is a black-and-white photographic portrait of the boy. He is wearing a white shirt. Behind him, a stage curtain can be seen.
It is a black-and-white photograph. The head is cut off in the picture; only the child's arms, resting on a table, are visible. The child is wearing a white shirt and dungarees.
It is a black-and-white photograph. It shows a naked girl. It is taken from the side. She is standing sideways to the camera. She appears to be standing unsteadily. Her feet are turned outwards. She has a braided plait. Behind her, a stage curtain can be seen.
It is a black-and-white portrait photograph. It shows a girl. She is wearing a light-coloured shirt and a necklace. Her hair is tied back. She has been crying. She is not looking at the camera and her expression is sad.

Five photographs of children, taken in the »children’s ward« in Lüneburg, 1942/1943. Photographer Ruth Supper.

ArEGL FB 2/34.

It is a black-and-white portrait photograph. It shows a girl. She is wearing a light-coloured shirt and a necklace. Her hair is tied back. She has been crying. She is not looking at the camera and her expression is sad.

Inge Roxin, »Children’s ward« Lüneburg 1943.

Private property of Sigrid Roxin.

The children were made ill with pathogens in order to research the effectiveness of the unlicensed drug »Eubasin«. Mariechen Petersen was only not ill during the time when her mother was able to visit her. »Eubasin« worked on her neighbour Inge Roxin. She recovered before Willi Baumert murdered her.

This photograph was taken in the »children’s ward«. The image shows that Inge Roxin was in poor health. She was subjected to human experiments. The image is problematic. But not showing it would downplay the actual misery. There is no photograph of Mariechen Petersen.

It is uncertain whether trials with vaccines against tuberculosis, scarlet fever or other diseases were also conducted in the Lüneburg »paediatric ward«. In contrast to the treatment of adult patients, especially in the so-called ‘foreigners‘ collection centre’, there is no evidence of this for children and adolescents to date.

Many employees from the nursing staff, but also from the administration and non-nursing areas of the Lüneburg sanatorium and nursing home were involved in the research in the »children’s ward«. None of them did anything to prevent the deaths of the children or to improve their situation. They can therefore be regarded as accomplices.

The letter is very yellowed. The transfers are listed in typewriter. The letter is signed by hand at the end.

Letter to Dresdner Bank with instructions regarding the payment of »special allowances« dated 15 December 1943.

BArch NS 51/227.

Those involved in the murders in the »children’s ward« and their accomplices received »special allowances« as a reward. This list shows that the Görden »children’s ward« received the highest amount in »special allowances« because there were a particularly large number of participants and accomplices in the »child euthanasia« programme there in 1943. The list does not include all the ‘children’s wards’ where children and young people were murdered that year.

The letter is yellowed. It is typewritten. It is half a page long. It is on the letterhead of the Lüneburg Mental Hospital. The letter is signed by hand.

Letter from Max Bräuner to the »Reich Committee« dated 28 November 1943.

BArch NS 51/227.

The employees of the Lüneburg »children’s ward« did not receive any ‘special allowances’ in 1941. In 1942, nurses Wilhelmine Wolf and Dora Vollbrecht were each paid an extra 30 Reichsmarks. For 1943, Max Bräuner recommended nurses Wilhelmine Wolf and Hertha Walther as well as his senior physician Willi Baumert for additional payments. As a physician, Baumert was rewarded with 100 Reichsmarks, meaning that Lüneburg received a total of 160 Reichsmarks from the »Reich Committee« in 1943.

All correspondence between the Reich Committee and the institution, the expert reports, the entries made during visits, and the transcripts of the autopsies were written by the secretary Karola Bierwisch (née Kleim). She was not only the secretary to the medical director Max Bräuner, but also his assistant in his lethal research. For this reason, she also received a ‘special allowance’ from the »Reich Committee« for the year 1944.

The letter is yellowed. It is typewritten. It is half a page long. It is on the letterhead of the Lüneburg Mental Hospital. The letter is signed by hand.

Letter from Max Bräuner to the »Reich Committee« dated 7 December 1944.

BArch NS 51/227.

The letter is very yellowed. It is typewritten.

Letter from the »Reich Committee« to the Kalmenhof mental hospital dated 27 September 1944.

BArch NS 51/227.

In 1944, individual nurses received a monthly allowance of 35 Reichsmarks for their participation in the killing of patients. The nurses in Lüneburg also received such an allowance. It was intended to strengthen loyalty and increase motivation.

The letter is very yellowed. It is typewritten.

Letter from the Großschweidnitz mental hospital to the Reich Committee dated 4 October 1944.

BArch NS 51/227.

Those who had rendered outstanding services in the so-called »Reich Committee work« received a medal. They were awarded the »Medal of Honour for German Social Welfare«. The murders they had committed were thus »valued«.

Nurses August Gebhardt and Ernst Meier assisted with the autopsies in the »Children’s ward« in Lüneburg. Gebhardt had been a nurse since 1912 and was responsible for opening and resealing the bodies from 1938 onwards. Although the mother of »T4« victim Paul Hausen told him that she believed her son had been murdered, Gebhardt had no idea that the many children’s bodies he had to deal with were also victims of euthanasia.

The transcript is typed in small letters. The paper is yellowed.

Excerpt from the transcript of the interrogation of August Gebhardt on 1 November 1947.

NLA Hannover Nds. 721 Lüneburg Acc. 8/98 No. 3.

The overview was typed on a typewriter. The paper has yellowed. The nurses' positions, names and addresses are listed. Handwritten markings have been made on the paper in red pen. Names have been underlined and people have been crossed out.

Overview of nursing staff in the »Children’s ward« dated 4 October 1947.

NLA Hanover Nds. 721 Lüneburg Acc. 8/98 No. 3.

The children and young people were looked after and cared for by a total of 21 nursing staff working in three shifts. In addition to the three nurses Wilhelmine Wolf (head nurse), Ingeborg Weber (who took her own life and is therefore not on the list) and Dora Vollbrecht, there were many other nurses who neglected the children and young people, provided them with inadequate care and stood by and watched them die.

»At the institution, I have seven nurses working simultaneously for approximately 130 children. It is impossible to hire more staff due to the personnel difficulties caused by the war; one also wonders whether more responsibility can be taken on given the worthlessness of this human resource in the current wartime situation.«

Excerpt from a letter from Max Bräuner to the Wittmund State Health Office dated 17 October 1942.

NLA Hanover Hann. 155 Lüneburg Acc. 56/83 No. 145, p. 2.

There were 35 siblings from 15 families in the »Children’s ward« in Lüneburg. Up to four children from one family were admitted. Sometimes all of the children were taken away from their parents. Even after the war, many children did not return home. Of the siblings, only one saw his parents again. From 1945 onwards, the young people were handed over to youth welfare services. Many of the survivors remained residents of the institution until the 1970s.

ERIKA (1936–1944) AND MARGRET BUHLRICH (1941–1945)

It is a black-and-white photograph. Hans Buhlrich is standing in a garden in front of a fence. He is about four years old. He is wearing dark dungarees with a checked shirt and a cap. He is holding a spade in his right hand and looking out of the picture to the left.

Hans Buhlrich, 1936.

It is a black-and-white photograph. Erika is about one year old. She is sitting on a blanket in a garden. She is wearing a short floral dress. She is biting her lower lip and looking intently at the camera.

Erika Buhlrich, around 1937.

It is a black-and-white photograph. Margret is sitting in a garden behind a large basket of apples. She has light curls and is smiling at the camera. She is wearing a sleeveless shirt and is about three years old.

Margret Buhlrich, around summer 1944.

Private property of Friedrich Buhlrich.

The Buhlrich siblings from Bremen were sent to the Lüneburg »Children’s ward« in 1944. Their brother Hans (1932–1942) had already died in Kutzenberg (Bavaria) in 1942. He had been evacuated from the Gertrudenheim near Bremen after only a few days. The sisters were murdered about two years later so that their brains could be examined to see if there was a pathological predisposition and whether their mother should not have a fourth child. They had been considered a nuisance in their neighbours‘ air-raid shelter during the bombings. The mother was very interested in finding out why her son Hans had a lame arm and her two girls had developmental delays. In order to find out the cause, first Erika died, then Margret. After the parents learned that Erika must have had meningitis, but the origin of the other impairments remained unclear, the Buhlrichs decided not to have any more children. Instead, they adopted a child born to a German woman and a Polish forced labourer. Friedrich Buhlrich remained unaware of the existence of his three biological siblings until the death of his adoptive parents.

Interview

The children witnessed the murder and watched their siblings die. This was also the case with the Köhler twins. Herbert’s health deteriorated, and by January 1945, the 16-year-old weighed only 28.5 kg. He died on 22 March 1945. His twin brother Willi was with him. The loss hit him hard. Afterwards, his brother worked diligently, ensuring that there were no more complaints. He understood that this was the only way he could survive.

There is a predefined form for medical histories. It contains a table. The table is filled in by hand. The paper is yellowed. It was written with different pens and by different people.

Excerpt from Willi Köhler’s medical records.

NLA Hannover Nds. 330 Lüneburg Acc. 2004/134 No. 00416.

»When his twin brother died recently, W. was very upset, cried a lot and didn’t eat well. In a letter to his mother, he asked for a mourning ribbon.«

Excerpt from Willi Köhler’s medical records.

NLA Hannover Nds. 330 Lüneburg Acc. 2004/134 No. 00416.

The list of items has been completed by hand. Many items are already listed on the form. Only one item has been added. The proof of ownership has been signed and stamped.

Excerpt from medical records, list of belongings of Wilhelm Schaffrath, 1943.

NLA Hanover Hann. 155 Lüneburg Acc. 56/83 No. 375.

At the beginning of July 1943, the Waldniel »Children’s ward« was dissolved. 183 children and adolescents were divided among the »Children’s wards« in Ansbach, Görden, Uchtspringe, Ueckermünde and Lüneburg. On 3 July 1943, a total of 38 children and adolescents from Waldniel were taken to the Lüneburg »Children’s ward«. Between July 1943 and December 1945, at least 25 died, one of whom was Wilhelm Schaffrath.

WILHELM SCHAFFRATH (1936 – 1943)

The list of items has been completed by hand. Many items are already listed on the form. Only one item has been added. The proof of ownership has been signed and stamped.

Excerpt from medical records, list of belongings of Wilhelm Schaffrath, 1943.

NLA Hanover Hann. 155 Lüneburg Acc. 56/83 No. 375.

Wilhelm Schaffrath from Euskirchen arrived in Waldniel 14 days before the closure of the »Children’s ward«. Only nine weeks passed between his admission there and his murder in Lüneburg, as Willi Baumert considered him to be

»completely anti-social and unworthy of life«

NLA Hanover Hann. 155 Lüneburg Acc. 56/83 No. 375.

was assessed. He arrived in Lüneburg with only the clothes he was wearing. That was all he had been given.

At the age of six, Wilhelm Schaffrath and his four siblings were placed in care. They had experienced a great deal of violence at home. The violence did not stop in care either. Wilhelm was forcibly admitted to the »Children’s ward« as »uneducable«.

Excerpt from the welfare education report dated 22 April 1943.

NLA Hanover Hann. 155 Lüneburg Acc. 56/83 No. 375.

From 1944 onwards, the Lüneburg »Children’s ward« took in around ten children from the Netherlands and Belgium. They had fled with or without their parents and were registered for admission to the »Children’s ward« by helpers from the NSV (National Socialist People’s Welfare Organisation). Others were children of forced labourers from Russia, the Soviet republics and Poland. They initially came with their mothers to the »foreigners« collection point’ or had been taken away from their mothers in the camp.

The cover is made of red cardboard. The pre-printed categories have been filled in by hand. A sticker from the State Archives has been affixed. The words »Child of an employee« have also been highlighted by hand.

Cover of Luba Gorbatschuk’s medical file, 1944.

NLA Hanover Hann. 155 Lüneburg Acc. 56/83 No. 67.

The children of forced labourers usually survived only a few weeks because the costs of their care were not covered. It did not matter whether they were actually ill or developmentally delayed. Luba Gorbatschuk (1943–1944) was sent to the »Children’s ward« because her mother had run away from the camp and the camp administration wanted to get rid of her. Luba had no abnormalities whatsoever, except that she was just getting her first teeth.

Benni Hiemstra’s Dutch parents were National Socialists. In August 1944, they fled to the Reich, hoping to escape the Allies. Benni was seven years old when he was registered at the refugee camp school in Amelinghausen and then admitted to the »Children’s ward«. He died within just three weeks.

Interview

It is a black-and-white photograph. Benni Hiemstra is lying on a lounger with pillows under his upper body. He is wearing dark woollen dungarees and a light-coloured shirt. He is looking to the side towards the camera. His hands are held in front of his chest.

Benni Hiemstra, around 1938.

Private collection Johan Huismann | Tine Ovinck-Huismann.

The note is on a small piece of paper. It is typed.

Letter from the City of Lüneburg regarding the assumption of costs dated 20 February 1945.

NLA Hanover Hann. 155 Lüneburg Acc. 56/83 No. 136.

Elisabeth van Molen and Dieter Lorenz had been brought to the Reich from the Netherlands without their parents as part of the NSV Youth Welfare West campaign. They were murdered after only a few days. The decisive factor in their case was that the city of Lüneburg hesitated to cover the care costs for the parentless children. It was not until February 1945 that the city decided to bear the costs. By then, both children were already dead.

DIETER LORENZ (1942 – 1944)

It is a black-and-white group photo of the Lorenz and Vennemann families. The men are wearing dark suits and shirts. The children are wearing knitted jumpers, and the mother is wearing a dress with a striped pattern. Everyone has combed hair and is looking seriously at the camera. Dieter, as a baby, is holding his hands over his mouth.

Family photo with Dieter, Rolf and Helmut Lorenz (foreground, from left to right), Aenne and Erich Lorenz behind them, and Heinrich Wilhelm Vennemann, Dieter’s grandfather, at the very back, circa autumn 1942.

Private collection of Helmut Lorenz.

Dieter Lorenz was born on 26 February 1942 in Eindhoven in the Netherlands. His father Erich was a businessman and came from Schmölln in Thuringia. His mother Aenne (née Vennemann) was Dutch and a pharmacist. They married in 1934 and had three sons: Rolf, Helmut and Dieter.

It is a black-and-white photograph. It is slightly out of focus. Three children are standing in front of a lattice door. In the middle, a child is sitting in a pram. On either side is another boy. The boys are wearing short dungarees. The child in the pram is wearing a light-coloured top and has a plait on top of her head.

Rolf, Dieter and Helmut Lorenz, Eindhoven, spring 1943.

Private collection of Helmut Lorenz.

Because Erich was drafted into the Wehrmacht and Aenne had to run the tool shop on her own from then on, she temporarily placed Dieter in a children’s home. At the beginning of September 1944, it was evacuated without informing the parents. The futile search for Dieter began. Erich had himself transferred to commandos where Aenne had learned that Dieter might be in the respective area.

The note is typed in small letters. The paper is yellowed and has been folded several times.

Memo, no author, no date, December 1944.

Private collection of Helmut Lorenz.

Dieter came via Hilden near Solingen and Hanover to Lüneburg, where he was placed in a reception camp for parentless children. There he was selected and admitted to the Lüneburg »Children’s ward« on 28 November 1944. He had a box with him on which his name »Lorenz« was written. Because Rita Breker, a girl from the children’s home, referred to him as her »brother Dieter«, he was admitted as »Dieter Lorenz«.

The note is typed in small letters. It is not signed.

Letter from the Hilden Welfare and Youth Services Department to the Solingen NSDAP district leadership, 16 January 1945.

Private collection of Helmut Lorenz.

When he was admitted, Dieter was diagnosed with a mental disability. Because it was assumed that he had no parents and the city of Lüneburg initially refused to cover the costs for the non-German child, he was murdered 16 days after his admission. Dieter died on 14 December 1944.

The note is typed in small letters. The paper is half a page long. The letter is not signed.

Letter dated 20 February 1945.

NLA Hanover Hann. 155 Lüneburg Acc. 56/83 No. 311.

On 20 February 1945, the city of Lüneburg agrees to cover the costs of Dieter’s stay. By then, he has already been dead for over two months.

Dieter’s parents only learned of his death in January 1945. His brothers never found out that Dieter had a disability. They were told that he had gone missing on a Red Cross bus. Helmut Lorenz then spent almost 70 years searching for his little brother. In 2014, Dieter’s fate was finally revealed.

It is a black-and-white postcard of the hospital building of the Eben-Ezer institution in Lemgo. The wide building with a pointed roof has two storeys and a wide balcony on one gable end, supported by six pillars, with a terrace underneath. Above the central main entrance to the building there is also a bay window with a balcony, supported by columns.

Postcard of the Eben-Ezer institution in Lemgo, after 1945.

NArEGL 99.

Around 40 percent of the children and young people admitted to the Lüneburg »Children’s ward« survived. 103 children (39 girls, 64 boys) were transferred to Lemgo (Eben-Ezer) for an »educational experiment«. There was a special school there. Eleven of them were sent back, and Gertrud Krebs and Kurt Bock died as a result. The Eben-Ezer Foundation was not a safe place either. Twelve other children and adolescents are known to have been admitted to the »Children’s ward« by the foundation itself.

Because she knew her name and age, behaved well and showed interest, Willi Baumert transferred Gertrud Krebs to Eben-Ezer just six weeks after her admission. A year later, she returned as »unfit for school«. In November 1944, Max Bräuner noted in handwriting that there had been no visits or inquiries. This was also unlikely because she had initially been admitted from a children’s home in Amt Neuhaus. Three months after this entry, she was no longer alive.

The printed table has been filled in by hand. Different pens have been used. Different handwritings can be seen.

Excerpt from the medical records of Gertrud Krebs.

NLA Hannover Hann. 155 Lüneburg Acc. 56/83 No. 110.

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