Stadtroda (Thüringische Landesheilanstalten Stadtroda, after Feb. 1943 Thüringisches Landeskrankenhaus Stadtroda)

The Kinderfachabteilung in Stadroda was established in October 1942 at the latest (as the only such ward in what today is the state of Thuringia) and continued to operate until the end of World War II. The clinic's medical director was Dr. Gerhard Kloos, and the physician responsible for the "special children's ward" was Dr. Margarete Hielscher. Even though the Stasi discovered their involvement in the killing as perpetrator, they received political protection in the former East German state.

It has been estimated that 133 children died in the special children's ward in Stadtroda. However, even before the establishment of the ward, at least 70 children died either because life-saving treatment was withheld or were killed through medication.

These figures established in the research of S. Zimmermann and R. Renner have been indirectly called into question by the pysicians J. Kasper and M. Lembke, who in the context of a book commissioned by the state medical association, whose apparent purpose is to exculpate the physician Jussuf Ibrahim in regard to his involvement in Euthanasia, interpret medical evidence in a way that arrives at very conservative figures.

Source: author; http://maik-nothnagel.de/images/PDF/stadtroda.pdf

In 1998 a memorial created by Karola Nitz was dedicated in the park of the Landesfachkrankenhaus für Psychiatrie und Neurologie, with support from the directors of the clinic and the association of mental patients "Die Brücke" (The Bridge). The archway symbolizes the gate of the clinic through which people were sent to die, and the book addresses the history of the institution and serves as a warning. The inscription reads: "In memory of the patients of this hospital who between 1941 and 1945 fell victim to the murderous actions under Nazi rule." The historical chronic on the website of the clinic today refers vaguely to "inhumane violence" that was perpetrated between 1933 and 1945. It does not appear that commemorative events take place on site on a regular basis, but in 2008 a commision of the state diet visited the clinic and laid a wreath (see here).

An extensive exhibition "Transport in den Tod" (transfer to death) also commemorates the past events (see exhibitions).

Literature

Benzenhöfer, Udo. 2003. "Genese und Struktur der 'NS-Kinder- und Jugendlicheneuthanasie.'" Monatsschrift für Kinderheilkunde 151: 1012-1019.

Kasper, Johannes M. 2008. "Die nationalsozialistische Kindereuthanasie in Stadtroda: Ein Beitrag anhand von Krankenakten aus neuropädiatrischer Sicht. Pp. 171-96 in Menschliche Verantwortung gestern und heute: Beiträge und Reflexionen zum nationalsozialistischen Euthanasie-Geschehen in Thüringen und zur aktuellen Sterbedebatte, edited by Eggert Beleites. Jena: Landesärztekammer Thüringen.

Lemke, Sebastian. 2008. "22 Stadtrodaer Kinderschicksale: Fakten aus der Sicht eines Klinikers." Pp. 197-222 in Menschliche Verantwortung gestern und heute: Beiträge und Reflexionen zum nationalsozialistischen Euthanasie-Geschehen in Thüringen und zur aktuellen Sterbedebatte, edited by Eggert Beleites. Jena: Landesärztekammer Thüringen.

Platz, Wolfram E., and Volkmar Schneider, eds. 2008. Dokumente einer Tötungsanstalt: "In den Anstalten gestorben." Part 2. Berlin. Hentrich & Hentrich.

Renner, Renate. 2004. "Zur Geschichte der Thüringer Landesheilanstalten/des Thüringer Landeskrankenhauses Stadtroda 1933 bis 1945 unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der nationalsozialistischen 'Euthanasie.'" M.D. Diss., Medical College, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena.

Topp, Sascha. 2004. “Der ‘Reichsausschuss zur wissenschaftlichen Erfassung erb- und anlagebedingter schwerer Leiden’: Zur Organisation der Ermordung minderjähriger Kranker im Nationalsozialismus 1939-1945.” Pp. 17-54 in Kinder in der NS-Psychiatrie, edited by Thomas Beddies and Kristina Hübener. Berlin-Brandenburg: Be.bra Wissenschaft.

———. 2005. "Der 'Reichsausschuß zur wissenschaftlichen Erfassung erb- und anlagebedingter schwerer Leiden': Die Ermordung minderjähriger Kranker im Nationalsozialismus 1939-1945." Master's Thesis in History, University of Berlin.

Wanitschke, Matthias, ed. 2005. Archivierter Mord: Der SED-Staat und die NS-"Euthanasie"-Verbrechen in Stadtroda. Erfurt: Landeszentrale für politische Bildung Thüringen.

Zimmermann, Susanne, ed. 2007. Überweisung in den Tod: Nationalsozialistische "Kindereuthanasie" in Thüringen. Erfurt: Landeszentrale für politische Bildung Thüringen.

Zimmermann, Susanne and G. Wieland. 1989. "Die Kinderfachabteilung Stadroda/Thüringen unter der Leitung des Psychiaters Gerhard Kloos: Ein Beispiel der faschistischen Vernichtungspolitik 'lebensunwerten Lebens.'" Pp. 213-16 in Das Schicksal der Medizin im Faschismus, edited by A. Thom and S. M. Rapoport. Berlin: VEB Verlag Volk und Gesundheit.