MINNA HAUSCHILD (9.11.1875 – 4.5.1945)

Minna Hauschild, née Tobaben, came from Regesbostel near Buxtehude. She was the youngest of 14 children of the farm owner Hans Jochen Tobaben and his wife Anna Metta. On 14 January 1898, Minna married Johann Hinrich Hauschild from Nindorf near Stade, the son of the farm owner, who was four years her senior. Together they had nine children: Dora (1898), Hinrich (1899), Johannes (1901), Wilhelm (1903), Gustav (1904), Hermann (1906), Anna (1907), Walter (1910) and Martha (1911).

During the First World War, Minna had to manage her own farm at number 29 in Nindorf largely on her own, as Hinrich was a soldier. After his return, the farm was run jointly again. It is possible that a milk trade was added after the war, which meant that the Hauschilds were even able to afford a car.

With the exception of the youngest child Martha, Minna’s children married between 1922 and 1939. The third eldest son remained on the farm with his wife Anna and his three children, which he was given in 1944. Minna and her husband Hinrich were now too old to help.

Minna also developed senile dementia from around 1943. She often wandered off and also seemed to tell stories that were inconclusive or not true. It was a difficult time for the family and they often had to look for Minna. There were also discussions among the children about how to deal with the situation. In the end, Minna was admitted to the Lüneburg sanatorium and nursing home on 25 October 1944.

Minna arrived there at a time when the care situation at the Lüneburg sanatorium and nursing home was coming to a head. Everyday life in the institution was characterised by severe shortages, as well as inadequate and inappropriate care, which was exacerbated by overcrowding. This led to increased starvation among the inmates and accelerated the spread of deadly infectious diseases. There are also indications that there were „dying days“ in the months of April to July 1945, on which a conspicuously large number of sick people died. Minna Hauschild also died on one of these „dying days“, on 4 May 1945.
Minna Hauschild was a victim of the „decentralised euthanasia“ that continued after the end of the war.