Monument

Implementation of racial hygiene plans under National Socialist rule

The radical implementation of the National Socialist regime's plans for racial hygiene began in 1934 when the "Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring" came into force. Sick and disabled people were marginalised, degraded and destroyed.

Between 1939 and 1945, children and young people with physical or learning disabilities were systematically killed. Medical staff were obliged to report sick and disabled newborns.

By 1945, at least 5,000 children had been killed in over 30 so-called paediatric wards. In Saxony, too, there had been paediatric wards at the Leipzig University Children's Hospital and the Leipzig Dösen Sanatorium and Nursing Home since 1940.

The memorial at the University of Leipzig commemorates the children who fell victim to the National Socialist "euthanasia" crimes.

Nationalsocialists kill people with disabilities

People need to remember this.

The National Socialists were in power in Germany from 1933 to 1945.

The short word for National Socialists is: Nazis.

The Nazis were against people with disabilities.

The Nazis killed many people with disabilities.

The Nazis' bad word for this is: euthanasia.

The Nazis also killed many children with disabilities.

Scientists say:

The Nazis killed at least 5,000 children with disabilities.

The Nazis also killed children with disabilities in Leipzig.

This memorial is a memorial.

That means:

People today should remember the children who were killed.

And people must not forget these children.

The memorial is also a reminder of this:

Some people are still against people with disabilities.

All people should think about this.

The path to Nazi "euthanasia"

Racial hygiene and forced sterilisation - an invention of the National Socialists?

The origins of the ideology of racial hygiene and forced sterilisation go back well before the time of the National Socialists. These concepts are based on the idea that a certain race is superior to others and has the right to rule over them. The National Socialists adapted and operationalised these ideas from 1933 onwards, defining certain population groups as "unworthy life" and legitimising forced sterilisation by law. But who did they consider to be "unworthy"? How did the Nazis manage to convince so many people of their ideas? This video, part of a series dealing with the Nazi "euthanasia" crimes in Hadamar, sheds light on these questions.