How the Nazis Perverted Psychiatry to Exterminate People

In 2016 it premiered Nebel im August (Fog in August), a very hard film that spoke for the first time in the history of cinema about Aktion T4 or Nazi eugenics, a chilling perversion of the psychiatry profession that aimed to exterminate people who were disabled or had some type of mental illness.

The protagonist, the boy Ernst Lossa, is a real character who rebelled against Hungercost or “Hunger diet”, one of the methods used by psychiatric centers to murder designated patients. Another way that the health workers used to exterminate people classified as “useless” were the gas chambers, which were later also used, as is known, against the Jews. In today’s article we talk about Aktion T4, the chilling program that sought to “cleanse the German race.”

The Aktion T4 and the objective of “cleaning the race”

The Jewish Holocaust is well known. Numerous films have been made about this pitiful episode in history, such as, for example, the memorable Schindler’s List (1993) or the no less moving The pianist (2002).

However, little or nothing has been said about the other great massacre perpetrated by the Nazis: the one that murdered some 270,000 people who suffered from some type of disability or mental disorder. The terrifying “excuse”: “cleanse” the Aryan race of the supposed contamination that these people with “defects” supposed.

Darwin, Mendel and genetic theories

Neither the British Charles Darwin (1809-1882) nor the German Gregor Johann Mendel (1822-1884) could imagine that their contributions to science would be manipulated and perverted for the sake of collective murder. But, unfortunately, that’s what happened.

Darwin’s evolutionary theories had made a dent in a society that was already quite racist per se, and led to the rise of the absurd idea that there were some races “superior” to others. On the other hand, Mendel’s theories on genetic inheritance spurred the belief that everything, absolutely everything, was transmitted physically including psychological illnesses and mental disorders.

One of the enthusiastic readers of Mendel’s theories was a young Adolf Hitler, who in his Mein Kampf (My struggle) left in writing that “those who no longer possessed the necessary strength to fight for their health would be denied the right to life.” In other words: only the genetically strongest had a place in the world.

In 1920, an article written by the lawyer Karl Binding and the psychiatrist Alfred Hoche was published that further exalted the ideology of eugenics or the “good race.” Its title was terrifying: Permission for the destruction of life unworthy of being lived. In the writing, the authors They insisted that people who had “defects” that prevented their normal social performance should be eliminated for their own good and that of society. and used insulting expressions such as “useless eaters” to refer to them.

In the end; When Hitler reached the German chancellorship in 1933, all the ground was fertile for the appalling Rassenhygiene or “radical hygiene” became legal.

Rassenhygiene or “radical hygiene” begins

We should not think, however, that this situation occurred only in Germany. In fact, we will be surprised to know that in the United States (specifically, in the state of Indiana) a law was passed in 1907 that authorized forced and compulsory sterilization of people with “problems.” Although it was of course not such an extreme measure, today it is inconceivable to us that a state would interfere in a matter as private as offspring.

The program of the Rassenhygiene or German radical hygiene combined both “solutions.” First it started with a forced sterilization of people with mental illnesses, especially schizophrenia since, again following the genetic theories of the time, it was considered that these people transmitted their disorder to their children. It is estimated that between 1934 and 1945, some 400,000 people were forcibly sterilized in Germany.

The worst, however, was to come. In the summer of 1939, just before the start of World War II, Hitler secretly signed the program known as Aktion T4 (after the headquarters address at Tiergartenstraße, 4 in Berlin). The objective of this program was the elimination of 70,000 patients, located in different health centers in the country. The intention was not only “radical hygiene”, but an economic motive was also argued; Theo Morell, Adolf Hitler’s private doctor, calculated that with the program, and in his words, “5,000 idiots would be eliminated at an annual cost of 2,000 marks”, which represented a “saving” for the state of 10 million marks. per year.

An absolute perversion of psychiatry

The idea behind the horrible program was that Germany should have strong and healthy citizens, who were considered “worthy” of the Aryan race and who did not represent a “useless expense” for the state coffers. Within this “suitable” classification, Aktion T4 did not include people who suffered from schizophrenia (a particularly persecuted disease) or the elderly with senile dementia, including those who suffered from any type of “mental retardation” or simply , who suffered from deafness or blindness.

To collect information about the mental state of the inmates, the various centers were notified to fill out a form for each patient. although, to ensure that the operation remained secret, they were not notified why. Thus, many directors of psychiatric hospitals sent the forms without knowing that, with them, they were sending their patients to death.

The most important information the state wanted to collect on these forms was whether the patient in question was capable of “useful work.” Manual tasks such as sweeping or sewing did not fall under this consideration and, of course, patients who were absolutely dependent were first on the list. Little by little, with the connivance (intentional or not) of the health workers, the Nazi state was able to obtain the information it wanted, and Aktion T4 was launched.

Patients who were selected for a Gnadentod or “death with dignity” (since this euphemism was often used to talk about the intention of the program) were transferred to specialized centers, where they were murdered using three methods: the gas chamber, lethal injection or Hungercost or “hunger diet.” This last method is perfectly reflected in the film cited in the introduction, Fog in Augustwhich shows how “selected” patients are fed a kind of soup that, in reality, does not contain any type of nutrient since it has been treated in advance.

Perhaps the most chilling thing about the case is that the patients trusted the people who cared for them and who, in many cases, became their executioners.

The campaign of the bishop of Munich and the end of Aktion T4

The program was carried out more or less in secret, although, little by little, the various sudden deaths began to raise suspicions, naturally. Many families managed to save their interned relatives, but those who did not receive a brief letter from the sanatorium stating that the person had “died suddenly” and that this was “the best, given their condition.” The bodies were cremated and the ashes sent to grieving and confused relatives.

Despite the general silence (due, in many cases, to fear) There were some people who rebelled and denounced the gruesome practice. One of them was Clemens August Graf von Galen, bishop of Munich, who, in 1941, and from the pulpit, denounced the suspicious disappearances of thousands and thousands of inmates and directly identified them with state homicides. The bishop was not retaliated due to his notoriety, but some of his collaborators were.

In any case, the Aktion T4 was already mortally wounded. In 1941, Hitler ordered his arrest, although some centers, such as the famous Hartheim center (currently a museum-memorial in honor of the victims) continued to murder with impunity until the end of the war. An absolute perversion of psychiatry that has gone almost unnoticed in history and that led almost 300,000 people to their graves.