• »Lest We Forget« Memorial
In Nassau-Scheuern, a so-called transit institution was established by the National Socialist »T4«-office. Mentally ill and handicapped people were gathered here from 1941 on and transferred to »T4« killing centres. The »Lest We Forget« Memorial has commemorated the victims of »euthanasia« on the premises of the Scheuern hospitals since 2000.
Image: Nassau-Scheuern, undated, The Scheuern hospital at the end of the 1920s, Heime Scheuern
Nassau-Scheuern, undated, The Scheuern hospital at the end of the 1920s, Heime Scheuern

Image: Nassau-Scheuern, 2008, »Lest We Forget« Memorial, Heime Scheuern
Nassau-Scheuern, 2008, »Lest We Forget« Memorial, Heime Scheuern
Under the National Socialist regime the term »euthanasia« stood for the murder of thousands of mentally and physically handicapped people. The murder was planned and organised by a central office which directly reported to Adolf Hitler. The office was code named »T4« in reference to its postal address in Berlin's Tiergartenstraße. At first, toddlers up to the age of three fell victim to »euthanasia«, later older children and youths were affected. Beginning 1940, handicapped adults and ill people were included in the scheme under the new code »Action T4«. During the initial phase, people were killed by malnourishment, poison or medications. From January 1940, more and more »T4« killing centres began operating gas chambers.
The transfer of patients deemed »unworthy of living« to so-called transit institutions was to ensure better concealment of the »Action T4«. After several weeks in transit institutions, the handicapped and mentally ill patients were taken to one of six killing centres by the Gemeinnütziger Krankentransport GmbH (GEKRAT; »charitable ambulance service«). The hospital in Scheuern too became a »euthanasia transit institution. Within a few months, the hospital's patients were transferred to »T4« killing centres in order to make room for »euthanasia« victims from other hospitals. The first collective transports from other hospitals arrived in Scheuern in April 1941. After a few weeks, the GEKRAT transported the patients to Hadamar in camouflaged grey buses. That same day, many of them were killed in gas chambers by hospital personnel. Even after the »euthanasia« campaign had officially been put to a halt in August 1941, doctors and medical staff continued killing patients as part of the »euthanasia« programme by poisoning them, giving them overdoses of medications and starving them to death. From January 1943 on, personnel at Scheuern continued putting together transports headed for Hadamar and other killing centres, as instructed by the »T4« office.
Image: Nassau-Scheuern, undated, The Scheuern hospital at the end of the 1920s, Heime Scheuern
Nassau-Scheuern, undated, The Scheuern hospital at the end of the 1920s, Heime Scheuern

Image: Nassau-Scheuern, 2008, »Lest We Forget« Memorial, Heime Scheuern
Nassau-Scheuern, 2008, »Lest We Forget« Memorial, Heime Scheuern
Between March and the end of April 1941, the GEKRAT transported over 300 patients from the Scheuern hospital to the Hadamar and Pirna-Sonnenstein killing centres. The victims had previously been patients at Scheuern. In total, the medical staff of the killing centres murdered about 1,500 physically and mentally handicapped as well as mentally ill people who were brought to the »T4« centre via the Scheuern transit institution.
Image: Nassau-Scheuern, undated, Max M., patient at the hospital since 1914, was transferred »to a different hospital, uncured«, on March 19, 1941, Heime Scheuern
Nassau-Scheuern, undated, Max M., patient at the hospital since 1914, was transferred »to a different hospital, uncured«, on March 19, 1941, Heime Scheuern

Image: Nassau-Scheuern, 2008, Memorial depicting quotes from patients' letters, which were never sent off, Heime Scheuern
Nassau-Scheuern, 2008, Memorial depicting quotes from patients' letters, which were never sent off, Heime Scheuern
In 1999, the board of the Scheuern hospitals foundation decided to erect a memorial to the victims of the »euthanasia« crimes and to create a documentation of the topic. The memorial, designed by artist Christian Rudolpf, consists of five larger-than-life letterheads made of rusting steel. Stamped onto them are quotes from letters patients sent to their relatives. The hospital personnel never posted the letters. The memorial was dedicated on November 19, 2000, and can now be visited along with the exhibition displayed on the premises of the Scheuern hospitals.
Image: Nassau-Scheuern, 2008, Memorial with quotes from patients' letters, which were never sent off, Heime Scheuern
Nassau-Scheuern, 2008, Memorial with quotes from patients' letters, which were never sent off, Heime Scheuern

Image: Nassau-Scheuern, 2008, »Lest We Forget« Memorial, Heime Scheuern
Nassau-Scheuern, 2008, »Lest We Forget« Memorial, Heime Scheuern
Name
Mahnmal »Damit wir nicht vergessen«
Address
Am Burgberg 16
56377 Nassau-Scheuern
Phone
+49(0)260 497 90
Fax
+49(0)260 497 910 9
Web
http://www.heime-scheuern.de
E-Mail
info@heime-scheuern.de
Open
Accessible at all times
Possibilities
Exhibition on the hospital premises