NFC zu N-K-02

NO END

On 18 April 1945, Lüneburg was liberated by British troops and the war was over. But nothing changed at the Lüneburg sanatorium and nursing home. For weeks, the British military administration took no interest in the conditions. The staff continued to murder until the British security police inspected the facility for the first time in August 1945. But even after Max Bräuner was banned from working, the deaths continued. In 1945, more than 35 per cent of the sick died.

Die Tabellen umfassen anderthalb Seiten. Sie sind mit der Schreibmaschine verfasst. Sie sind in eine Art Kladde eingebunden. Der Rand ist sehr abgegriffen. Einige Zahlen sind handschriftlich rot unterstrichen. Kategorien der Tabelle sind: Jahr, Bestand, Zugänge, Insgesamt, Abgänge, Todesfälle, Insgesamt.

Occupancy rates and mortality in the Lüneburg sanatorium and nursing home 1910 to 1947, with calculation errors.

NLA Hannover Nds. 721 Hannover Acc. 61/81 No. 28/7.

For decades, there was only one calculation for mortality in the Lüneburg sanatorium and nursing home. This calculation was used unchecked in all investigative proceedings and research, although it contains a fundamental error. The calculation assumes that there were no transfers of patients. The transport of patients to other institutions was not taken into account in the calculation. However, if the actual, significantly lower number of patients in Lüneburg is taken as a basis, the mortality rates are considerably higher.

Es ist ein Diagramm. An der y-Achse die Werte 0, 0,2 und 0,4. An der x-Achse die Jahre 1910 bis 1945. Die Fläche unter dem Graphen ist blau gefärbt.

After Willi Baumert was seconded full-time to Lüneburg in 1943, the mortality rate rose to over 30 per cent. Because he was called up for military service in September 1944, it fell to 27 per cent in 1944. 1945 is the year of the highest mortality rate in the Lüneburg sanatorium and nursing home. As a result of mass deaths, it was over 35 per cent. In 1946, one in five patients died, in 1947 still more than one in ten.

Es ist ein Säulendiagramm. Die Säulen sind blau gefärbt. Die y-Achse zeigt die Zahl der gestorbenen Erkrankten. Die x-Achse die Tage der sechs Monate. Beschriftet sind die jeweils ersten Tage eines jeden Monats. Im zweiten Diagramm sind die gestorbenen Erkrankten jeden Monats durch eine Säule dargestellt.

During the war, no more than three sick people died a day. This changed at the beginning of April 1945, with an unusually high number of deaths on individual days in April, May and June. There were real »dying days«. A natural or disease-related death is unlikely. The killings did not end until the end of August 1945, and the deaths of many sick people due to starvation and severe shortages and malnutrition were accepted until the summer of 1946.

The »Law for the Prevention of Offspring with Hereditary Diseases« was valid in the western zones until the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949. Although the implementation of the law had been suspended by the British Military Government, the Medical Director Rudolf Redepenning remained seconded to the Hereditary Health Court in Lüneburg and proceedings continued. Only in the Eastern zone was the law completely repealed and the doctors involved were prosecuted. At the beginning of the 1950s, those affected applied for the proceedings to be reopened. They wanted to claim in their pension applications that they were victims of Nazi injustice. In many cases, the same judges who had ordered forced sterilisations during the war ruled on these cases.

Der Beschluss ist mit der Schreibmaschine verfasst. Das Papier ist gelocht und wirkt kaum gebraucht. Oben rechts ist ein blauer Eingangsstempel des Gesundheitsamtes Lüneburg.

Extract from the decision of the Higher Regional Court of Celle on the reopening of the hereditary health case Georg Marienberg of 9 October 1952.

In 1951, Georg Marienberg endeavoured to have his hereditary health case reopened and hoped for compensation. Local court director Jahn, who had been a judge at the hereditary health court in Lüneburg since 1940, came to the conclusion that his decision at the time had been lawful. Georg Marienberg lodged an appeal against this with the Higher Regional Court of Celle. This was rejected in 1952. The proceedings were not resumed.

In the retrials, the victims often faced the same judges who had previously ruled on the forced sterilisations. They also had to undergo an intelligence test again. This was also the case for Emmi Nielson, who, like her half-brother Georg Marienberg, applied for a retrial. Her application was rejected and she had to pay the costs of the procedure herself.

Die Mitschrift ist in einen grünen Pappordner eingeheftet. Das Papier ist sehr vergilbt. Die Mitschrift ist mit der Schreibmaschine verfasst.

Excerpt from the transcript of the non-public meeting on the reopening of the Emmi Nielson hereditary health case of 25 May 1951.

NLA Hannover Hann. 138 Lüneburg Acc. 103/88 No. 662.

Der Bescheid ist auf dünnes Papier mit der Schreibmaschine geschrieben. Er ist in einem beigen Pappordner abgeheftet. Das Papier ist leicht vergilbt.

Excerpt from the decision in the compensation case Wilhelm Saul jun. dated 19 September 1959.

NLA Hannover Nds. 720 Lüneburg Acc. 139/90 No. 107.

In 1958, Wilhelm Saul’s sister sought compensation and reparation for her brother’s forced sterilisation. She filed a lawsuit with the Civil Chamber of the Lüneburg Regional Court. The claim was dismissed because the deadline for submission had been exceeded by a few days and the »eugenic reasons« stipulated by law in 1933 had not been scrutinised.

The judgements from the period from 1934 to 1949 were confirmed without exception for decades. Because there were similar sterilisation laws in other countries, the »Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring« was not judged to be National Socialist.

»The ‚Law for the Prevention of Offspring with Hereditary Diseases‘ of 14 July 1933 is not a typical National Socialist law, as similar laws also exist in democratically governed countries – e.g. Sweden, Denmark, Finland and in some states of the USA; however, the Federal Compensation Act only grants compensation payments to victims of persecution by the National Socialist regime and, in a few exceptional cases, to victims who have suffered damage as a result of particularly serious violations of the principles of the rule of law.«

German Bundestag, Plenary Protocol 2/191, p. 10876 of 7 February 1957.

REMEMBER RELATIVES

Relatives accompany the memorial work through discussions and interviews, by providing photos and documents and advising the memorial on its further development. They often only learn about the fate of their relatives today.

German Bundestag, vote on outlawing the »Act on the Prevention of Offspring with Hereditary Diseases«, 2007. Several MPs vote against and several abstain.

Film »Beautiful new man. Racial hygiene as a state goal«
(NDR, 2015); timecode 00:41:27.

In 1980, those affected were able to apply for a one-off payment of DM 5,000. In 1988, the German Bundestag described forced sterilisation as a Nazi injustice for the first time. It was not until 1992 that it became illegal to sterilise people against their will. The judgements of the Hereditary Health Courts were overturned in 1998. Compensation totalling 291 euros per month was paid out for the first time in 2011.

The survivors of the »specialised children’s ward« and the relatives of the victims of the murder of the sick were largely excluded from the late process of coming to terms with the crimes. The families often knew nothing about the actual fate of their relatives for decades. If they learn of the circumstances of their death today, they are no longer entitled to compensation or reparation. The crimes are considered time-barred. The victims and their families are among the victims of National Socialism whose losses were never atoned for.

THINK AHEAD AND REASSESS

The treatment of patients in the institution improved only gradually. There was no change in thinking in the FRG and the GDR until 1975. Only when a psychiatric investigation commission commissioned by the Federal Government came to the conclusion that inhumane conditions still prevailed in many psychiatric institutions in the FRG did care change in favour of the patients. In the 1980s, this change also took place in the GDR.

The intelligence test introduced under National Socialism was still used long after 1945. The test was only changed with regard to questions on political events. The author Gerhard Kloos was head of the Stadtroda »paediatric department« during the Nazi era. He had also made a name for himself in the medical profession before 1945 with »graduated treatment« (forced labour, malnutrition and refusal of therapy) and the poisoning of political dissidents. When the third edition of his Intelligenzprüfung was published, he was in charge of the Bad Pyrmont hospital in southern Lower Saxony.

Die Seiten 10 und 11 des Buchs sind aufgeschlagen. Das Papier ist vergilbt. In enger Schrift sind die Fragen thematisch sortiert aufgedruckt. Unter der Überschrift »Politisches Wissen« sind Fragen wie »Was heißt NSDAP?« oder »Wann hat der Führer Geburtstag?« zu lesen.

Gerhard Kloos: Instructions for intelligence testing in
hereditary health court proceedings, Jena 1941.

Die Seiten 22 und 23 des Buchs sind aufgeschlagen. Das Papier ist vergilbt. In enger Schrift sind die Fragen thematisch sortiert aufgedruckt. Unter der Überschrift »Politik« sind keine konkreten Fragen mehr zu lesen. Stattdessen der Hinweis, die Fragen an das jeweilige Zeitgeschehen anzupassen.

Gerhard Kloos: Instructions for intelligence testing in
psychiatric diagnostics, Stuttgart 1952.

Even today, there are intelligence tests that sometimes do not take into account whether a test person is of foreign origin. For this reason, far too many children of foreign origin are recognised as having »special needs for mental development«. Bilingualism is also seen as detrimental. Nevertheless, such tests are an aid to recognising support needs.

Following the report of the Psychiatric Inquiry Commission in 1975, there was a move away from the previous institutional care. The needs and hardships of those affected and their families were taken into account for the first time. Coercive measures were used less frequently. Much was done to reduce prejudices against mental illness and disabilities. Nevertheless, there is still a perception today that people with illnesses and disabilities are not equal to healthy people. Profit-orientated institutions reinforce this thinking, as those affected quickly become »ballast existences« again.

Auf hellem Stoff ist eine gelbe Umrandung gestickt. Oben links findet sich ein rotes Kreuz vor blauem Hintergrund mit einem weißen Pferd in der Mitte. Unten rechts eine Person in Schwesternkleidung. Dazu der Schriftzug: Oben rechts eine skizzierte Person mit Herz hinter Gittern. Dazu der Schriftzug: »Schwester ich bin gefangen für immer gefangen« sowie »Ketten der Liebe halten mein Herz«.

Embroidered doily, patient’s work, provenance unknown, transmitted by Helga Guddat, 1975.

StArEGL 21.

It is not known who embroidered this handkerchief.
this handkerchief. But as with Martha Kaufmann’s embroidery in the
HANDELN room, the motifs and lettering are
reflect the experience of psychiatry in 1975.

Die Zeitungsseite ist vergilbt. Der Artikel ist zweispaltig geschrieben. Unter der Überschrift ist ein großes schwarz-weißes Foto. Es zeigt den Besuch des Sozialministers im Landeskrankenhaus anlässlich der Eröffnung.

»Not a day longer«, in: Lüneburger Landeszeitung of 20 March 1976, p. 3.

StadtALg, 8.2-LLA-B, 476.

In order to improve the care of patients in the Lüneburg State Hospital, a new, centralised building was constructed as a »clinic« between 1974 and 1978.

Die Zeitungsseite ist vergilbt. Der Artikel ist dreispaltig geschrieben. Neben dem Artikel ist ein Foto einer Person in einem Patientenzimmer zu sehen.

»At the age of 77, the LKH becomes modern«, in: Lüneburger Landeszeitung of 31 January 1978, p. 12.

StadtALg, 8.2-LLA-B, 498.

Die Fragen sind eng auf das Papier gedruckt. Die Antworten sind anzukreuzen.

Questionnaire of the Hannover Medical School on the research project »Psychiatric illnesses among foreign citizens in the Federal Republic of Germany«, spring 1984.

ArEGL 19.

Even after 1975, sufferers of foreign origin are still met with prejudice. A research project at the University of Hanover assumed that there was a connection between foreign origin and mental illness. Lüneburg Hospital was the only hospital not to take part in this study. However, the decisive factor was not ethical reasons, but data protection. To this day, support for patients of foreign origin and the avoidance of multiple discrimination are not a matter of course everywhere.

Es ist ein schwarz-weißes Foto. Es ist sehr vergilbt. Es zeigt die beiden älteren Männer und die drei Kinder festlich gekleidet in einem Garten. Hans Heinze Junior hat sich zu den kleineren Kindern gehockt und hält ein Kleinkind auf dem Schoß.

Hans Heinze senior (left) with his son Hans Heinze junior (2nd from right) and the three grandchildren, around 1966.

Private property Hilde Winkelmann | Working Group Stumbling Stones Rehburg-Loccum.

From 1954 to 1978, at least 18 drug and vaccine studies were carried out on infants, children and adolescents in the paediatric and adolescent psychiatric ward in Wunstorf and in homes under its medical care. These studies were carried out without the consent of those affected; the doctor responsible was initially Hans Heinze senior and from 1966 Hans Heinze junior. Through the collaboration with Fritz Stöckmann, Head Physician at the Rotenburg Institutions from 1960 to 1974, drug trials were also carried out there. An investigation commissioned by the Lower Saxony Ministry of Social Affairs in 2017 concluded two years later that it was no longer possible to determine the number of children and adolescents who had been harmed. The study also made no statement about possible harm to children as a result of the trials.