germany Flashcards
what did the nazis do in 1933 in relation to sterilisation?
in July 1933 the nazis did introduce the law for prevention of hereditary diseased progeny ( sterilisation law) which introduced compulsory sterilisation for certain categories of inferiors.
-the law specified the hereditary diseases that sterilisation was to be applied to for example hereditary blindness, and deafness.
what did the nazis amend?
Two years on from 1933 the law was amended to permit aboritions in cases where those deemed suitable for sterilisation were already pregnant.
-in 1936 x ray sterilisation of women over 37 years was introduced.
-there was also however a ban on abortion and contraception for aryan women and girls in attempt to increase the birth rate.
what happened during the third reich?
during the third reich there was 400000 people sterilised.
what happened in October 1939 with euthanasia?
The regime had authorised euthanasia for the mentally and physically disabled regarded by the nazis as an unproductive burden on Germany resources as a threat to racial hygiene and the biological strength of the volk.
what theme was there in nazi propaganda with euthanasia?
There was a recurrent theme with nazi propoganda it was the idea that something had to be done about the burden of the long term ill and disabled.
-there was an open solution which was to pass legislation allowing mentally and physically disabled chilldren to be mercifully put to death and so relieve the burden of the national community. This idea was closely linked with the policy of sterilisation which was a well developed policy by 1939 and had public support.
what influence did dr phillip boudhler have?
He did use his control over letter to hitler to influence the decisions to introduce the euthanasia programmer later known as aktion t4 in 1939.
what happened to the children who were mentally or physically disabled?
children were spent to special hospitals to be starved to death or given lethal injections.
-parents were assured their child died in
spit of receiving the best treatment.
-the technical and administrative methods used to kill more than 5000 innocent children deemed by the Nazis to be incurable and worthless to society would be later applied to the jews in Europe.
who was karl bradct?
he was a senior ss doctor who was a member of hitlers inner circle. Together with dr phillip bouhler he founded the nazi euthanasia programme in 1939
-brandt rose to the rank of ss general major and was appointed reich commissioner for health and sanitation.
-he was guilty of supervising medical experiments during the war.
-he was arrested in 1945 and executed for war crimes in 1948.
How did the tf programme end?
By 1941 there were many rumours about the policy of euthanasia which were wide spread and aroused opposition.
-one public official filed a compliant with the riech justice ministry and also an accusation of murder against Philipp boudhler.
-from july 1940 there was a groundswell of protests from the churches.
what did the church say about the t4 programme?
Protestant pastor braune wrote a long memorandum on july 1940 protesting about the t4 programme.
-on 12 august braune was arrested by the gestapo. The roman catholic hierarchy made official protests behind the scenes.
-it did lead to intervention on behalf of the pope.
what did the pope say about the t4 programme?
An official statement from rome on 2 December 1940 pronounced that the direct killing of people with mental or physical defects was against the natural and Positive law of god.
-on 3 august 1941 catholic archbishop Galen of muster preached a sermon making an emotive attack on euthanasia backed by specific evidence.
what was the policy towards homosexuals?
In 1933 the nazis did begin a purge of homosexual organisations and literature, clubs were closed down organisations for gay people were banned and gay publicised were outlawed.
-In may 1933 nazi students attacked the institute of sex research a gay organisation and burned its library.
-They also seized the institute list of names and addresses of gap people.
what discrimination did homosexuals face?
In 1934 the gestapo began compiling list of gap people. In that same year the ss eliminated rohm and other leaders of the nazi sa who were homosexuals.
-the law on homseseuxlaity was amended in 1935 to widen the definition of homosexuality and to impose harsher penalties for those convicted. After the law was changed over 22000 men were arrested and imprisoned between 1936 and 1938.
what discrimination did homosexuals face?
-in 1936 Himmler created the riech office for the combatting of homosexuality and abortion.
-overall some 100000 men were arrested for homosexuality of whom about 50000 were convicted. even when the men arrested had served their sentences they were immediately rearrested by the gestapo or ss and held in concentration camps under protective custody.
-in the camps they had to wear a pink triangle to distguish them from other prisoners and they were subjected to brutal treatment by the guards.
what discrimination did homosexuals face?
Many of those imprionsed were subjected to voluntary castration to cure them of thier perversion.
gay men who would not agree to abandon their sexual orientation were sent to concentration amps where they were subjected to unsually harsh treatment. Many were beaten to death. It had been estimated that about 60 per cent of gay prisoners died in the camps.
-lesbians did not suffer the same degree of persecution as they were considered to be asocial rather than degenerate.
