Extermination of the Jewish mentally-ill during the Nazi era--the "doubly cursed".
In Nazi Germany, physicians initiated a program of sterilization and euthanasia directed at the mentally-ill and physically disabled. Relatively little is known regarding the fate of the Jewish mentally-ill. Jewish mentally-ill were definitely included and targeted and were among the first who fell victim. They were systematically murdered following transfer as a specialized group, as well as killed in the general euthanasia program along with non-Jewish mentally ill. Their murder constituted an important link between euthanasia and the Final Solution. The targeting of the Jewish mentally-ill was comprised of four processes including public assistance withdrawal, hospital treatment limitations, sterilization and murder. Jewish "patients" became indiscriminate victims not only on the basis of psychiatric diagnosis, but also on the basis of race. The killing was efficiently coordinated with assembly in collection centers prior to being transferred to their deaths. The process included deceiving Jewish patients' family members and caregivers in order to extract financial support long after patients had been killed. Jewish patients were targeted since they were helpless and considered the embodiment of evil. Since nobody stood up for the Jews, the Nazis could treat the Jewish patients as they saw fit. Several differences existed between euthanasia of Jews and non-Jews, among which the Jewish mentally-ill were killed regardless of work ability, hospitalization length or illness severity. Furthermore, there was discrimination in the process leading up to killing (overcrowding, less food). For the Nazis, Jewish mentally-ill patients were unique among victims in that they embodied both "hazardous genes" and "racial toxins." For many years there has been silence relating to the fate of the Jewish mentally-ill. This deserves to be corrected.
Beer Yaakov Mental Health Center, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Israel. raels@post.tau.ac.il
Rael
R
Strous
D001317:Austria; D003209:Concentration Camps / Q000266:history*; D005065:Euthanasia / Q000266:history*; D005858:Germany; D049673:History, 20th Century; D017767:Holocaust / Q000266:history*; D006801:Humans; D007585:Jews / Q000266:history*; D028642:Persons with Psychiatric Disorders / Q000266:history*; D028683:National Socialism / Q000266:history*; D011044:Poland; D011287:Prejudice