Jon was born on 12 June 1892 in Poland. He had been a labourer. The doctor in charge of the Polish infirmary in Uelzen admitted Jon Cichon to the Lüneburg sanatorium and nursing home on 5 April 1945 due to »acute mental illness« and »suspected progressive paralysis«. Jon Cichon was brought to the sanatorium and nursing home by two Polish escorts.
Rudolf Redepenning, the admitting doctor, noted that Jon did not have »progressive paralysis«, but allegedly atrophy of the brain. He had looked miserable on arrival and had lice. Although he was strongly built, he was skinny. Redepenning emphasised the word »skinny« twice. With a height of 175 cm, he weighed 65 kg.
Jon Cichon came to House 15 in the »Eastern labourers‘ section«. Four days after his admission, Redepenning tried to speak to him with the help of a language mediator. However, he did not respond to any of the approaches. On 2 May, Redepenning wrote in the medical records that Jon Cichon remained bedridden. This was followed three days later by the entry that he had died – without any suspicious signs of illness. In all probability, he had starved to death.
Nobody informed his family. It was not until 1978 that his wife was told where his grave had been. It had been closed three years earlier.
