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Germany

On July 14, 1933, the Nazi Government introduced the Law for the Protection of Genetically Diseased Offspring (Gesetz zur Verhuetung erbkranken Nachwuchses). This law intended to prevent the spread of hereditary diseases by sterilizing individuals who were believed to suffer from, or that their offspring would suffer from, severe physical and psychological disorders (Turda and Weindling, 2007, p. 294). It is estimated that 400,000 people were sterilized under the provisions of this 1933 law (Proctor, 1988, p. 109).

Sterilizations continued through World War II and Nazi power in Germany. Eugenic ideas were taken further than sterilization with the implementation of Action T4 (Tiergartenstraße 4), a euthanasia program, used to kill people who were physically and mentally disabled, incurably ill and elderly (Berenbaum, n.d.).

Although the severity of Nazi crimes were recognized and compensated for after Hitler’s period of National Socialism, sterilization was not initially acknowledged. In a summary of all major compensation programs initially provided to victims of the Holocaust, the Netherlands’ “Victims of Persecution Benefits Act” was the only program that identified ‘sterilization victim’ as criteria for compensation (“Holocaust Victim Assets Litigation, 2000b).

When the issue of sterilization compensation was eventually brought to light, German authorities would only provide compensation to an individual who could prove that they were sterilized outside the provisions of the 1933 law (Proctor, 1988, p. 117). Compensation was provided for individuals who were sterilized as part of medical experiments conducted in concentration camps (see Germany (Auschwitz)’s Sterilization Compensation) (Holocaust Victim Assets Litigation, 2000a, p. 107; Fisher, 1998, p. 535). It was not until December 1980 that compensation, in the form of a one-time payment of DM 5,000 (~$3,000 USD at the time), was given to people who had been sterilized (Holocaust Victim Assets Litigation, 2000a, p. 107

“Whoever is not bodily and spiritually healthy and worthy shall not have the right to pass on his suffering in the body of his children.” - Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf

Auschwitz
Sterilizations were performed at Auschwitz, as well as other concentration camps, between March 1931 and January 1945 (Harvard Law School Library Nuremberg Trials Project: A Digital Document Collection, n.d.). Medical experts and officials at Auschwitz worked to develop the most effective form of mass sterilization through various experiments on internees of the concentration camp. Some of these medical experiments included sterilization through means of chemically growing a woman’s fallopian tubes together or by subjecting men’s and women’s genitalia to severe radiation burns from x-rays (Strzelecka, n.d., p. 2-3). Due to complications and exstensive harm, only a small portion of the victims survived these experiments and Auschwitz (Strzelecka, n.d., p. 3).

Compensation has been provided to survivors of the Holocaust and their heirs since the end of World War II. On May 23, 2012, the German Medical Group adopted a declaration apologizing for Nazi-era medical experiments done by physicians (CBC News Staff, 2012).

Mixed-race Children
Sterilizations took place in an area of Germany called Rhineland. Must to the resentment of Germans, this area was occupied by French African troops. Anti-black sentiments were strong, especially towards the “Rhineland bastards” – children of black soldiers and white German women. German officials did not want these children to pass on their mixed-race blood to other Germans; beginning in 1937, they were taken under secret orders and approximately 400 mixed-race children were sterilized (Kestling, 1998, p. 87; Brothers, 2010). No apology has been given to these victims and it is unknown whether or not compensation has been provided to date (National Union of Teachers, n.d.).

Additional information can be found about Rhineland and the persecution of Blacks in the Holocaust in the following documents:
Nazi Persecution of Black People
Persecution and Segregation in the Holocaust

-Laura Shaw

  • Berenbaum, M. (n.d.). T4 Program (Nazi policy). In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/714411/T4-Program

  • Fisher, B. A. (1998). No roads lead to Rom: the fate of the Romani people under the Nazis and in post-war restitution. Whittier L. Rev., 20, 513.

  • German Federal Ministry of Finance. (2011, August). Compensation for National Socialist Injustice Indemnification Provisions. Public Relations Divison Federal Ministry of Finance.

  • Holocaust Victim Assets Litigation. (2000). Summary of Major Holocaust Compensation Programs. Retrieved from http://www.claimscon.org/forms/allocations/Summary%20of%20Major%20Holocaust%20Compensation%20Programs.pdf

  • Holocaust Victim Assets Litigation (Swiss Banks). (2000). Holocaust Compensation. Retrieved from http://www.swissbankclaims.com/Documents_New/665994.pdf

  • Proctor, R. (1988). Racial Hygiene: Medicine Under the Nazis. Harvard University Press.

  • Turda, M., & Weindling, P. (2007). “Blood and Homeland”: Eugenics and Racial Nationalism in Central and Southeast Europe, 1900-1940. Central European University Press.

  • Brothers, E. (2010, December 18). Blacks (Afro-Germans) in Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. Suite101. Text. Retrieved August 31, 2013, from http://suite101.com/article/blacks-afro-germans-in-nazi-germany-and-the-holocaust-a322649

  • Kestling, R. W. (1998). Blacks under the swastika: A research note. The Journal of Negro History, 83(1), 84–99.

  • National Union of Teachers. (n.d.). Nazi Persecution of Black People. The Stategy and Communications Department of the National Union of Teachers. Retrieved from http://www.teachers.org.uk/files/Black-victims-4pp-A4.pdf

  • CBC News Staff. (2012, May 25). German medical group apologizes for Holocaust role. CBS News. Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-57441586-10391704/german-medical-association-apologizes-for-nazi-era-experiments/

  • Greenhouse, S. (2003, November 19). Capping the Cost of Atrocity; Survivor of Nazi Experiments Says $8,000 Isn’t Enough. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/19/nyregion/capping-the-cost-of-atrocity-survivor-of-nazi-experiments-says-8000-isn-t-enough.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

  • Harvard Law School Library Nuremberg Trials Project: A Digital Document Collection. Introduction to NMT Case 1: U.S.A. v. Karl Brandt et al. Retrieved from http://nuremberg.law.harvard.edu/php/docs_swi.php?DI=1&text=medical

  • Holocaust Victim Assets Litigation (Swiss Banks). (2000). Holocaust Compensation. Retrieved from http://www.swissbankclaims.com/Documents_New/665994.pdf

  • Livingston, E. H. (2012). German medical group: Apology for Nazi physicians’ actions, warning for future. JAMA, 308(7), 657–658.

  • Strzelecka, I. (n.d.). Medical experiments in Auschwitz. Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum. Retrieved September 1, 2013, from http://en.auschwitz.org/h/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=10&limit=1&limitstart=2

Germany

On July 14, 1933, the Nazi Government introduced the Law for the Protection of Genetically Diseased Offspring (Gesetz zur Verhuetung erbkranken Nachwuchses). This law intended to prevent the spread of hereditary diseases by sterilizing individuals who were believed to suffer from, or that their offspring would suffer from, severe physical and psychological disorders (Turda and Weindling, 2007, p. 294). It is estimated that 400,000 people were sterilized under the provisions of this 1933 law (Proctor, 1988, p. 109).

Sterilizations continued through World War II and Nazi power in Germany. Eugenic ideas were taken further than sterilization with the implementation of Action T4 (Tiergartenstraße 4), a euthanasia program, used to kill people who were physically and mentally disabled, incurably ill and elderly (Berenbaum, n.d.).

Although the severity of Nazi crimes were recognized and compensated for after Hitler’s period of National Socialism, sterilization was not initially acknowledged. In a summary of all major compensation programs initially provided to victims of the Holocaust, the Netherlands’ “Victims of Persecution Benefits Act” was the only program that identified ‘sterilization victim’ as criteria for compensation (“Holocaust Victim Assets Litigation, 2000b).

When the issue of sterilization compensation was eventually brought to light, German authorities would only provide compensation to an individual who could prove that they were sterilized outside the provisions of the 1933 law (Proctor, 1988, p. 117). Compensation was provided for individuals who were sterilized as part of medical experiments conducted in concentration camps (see Germany (Auschwitz)’s Sterilization Compensation) (Holocaust Victim Assets Litigation, 2000a, p. 107; Fisher, 1998, p. 535). It was not until December 1980 that compensation, in the form of a one-time payment of DM 5,000 (~$3,000 USD at the time), was given to people who had been sterilized (Holocaust Victim Assets Litigation, 2000a, p. 107

“Whoever is not bodily and spiritually healthy and worthy shall not have the right to pass on his suffering in the body of his children.” - Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf

Auschwitz
Sterilizations were performed at Auschwitz, as well as other concentration camps, between March 1931 and January 1945 (Harvard Law School Library Nuremberg Trials Project: A Digital Document Collection, n.d.). Medical experts and officials at Auschwitz worked to develop the most effective form of mass sterilization through various experiments on internees of the concentration camp. Some of these medical experiments included sterilization through means of chemically growing a woman’s fallopian tubes together or by subjecting men’s and women’s genitalia to severe radiation burns from x-rays (Strzelecka, n.d., p. 2-3). Due to complications and exstensive harm, only a small portion of the victims survived these experiments and Auschwitz (Strzelecka, n.d., p. 3).

Compensation has been provided to survivors of the Holocaust and their heirs since the end of World War II. On May 23, 2012, the German Medical Group adopted a declaration apologizing for Nazi-era medical experiments done by physicians (CBC News Staff, 2012).

Mixed-race Children
Sterilizations took place in an area of Germany called Rhineland. Must to the resentment of Germans, this area was occupied by French African troops. Anti-black sentiments were strong, especially towards the “Rhineland bastards” – children of black soldiers and white German women. German officials did not want these children to pass on their mixed-race blood to other Germans; beginning in 1937, they were taken under secret orders and approximately 400 mixed-race children were sterilized (Kestling, 1998, p. 87; Brothers, 2010). No apology has been given to these victims and it is unknown whether or not compensation has been provided to date (National Union of Teachers, n.d.).

Additional information can be found about Rhineland and the persecution of Blacks in the Holocaust in the following documents:
Nazi Persecution of Black People
Persecution and Segregation in the Holocaust

-Laura Shaw

  • Berenbaum, M. (n.d.). T4 Program (Nazi policy). In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/714411/T4-Program

  • Fisher, B. A. (1998). No roads lead to Rom: the fate of the Romani people under the Nazis and in post-war restitution. Whittier L. Rev., 20, 513.

  • German Federal Ministry of Finance. (2011, August). Compensation for National Socialist Injustice Indemnification Provisions. Public Relations Divison Federal Ministry of Finance.

  • Holocaust Victim Assets Litigation. (2000). Summary of Major Holocaust Compensation Programs. Retrieved from http://www.claimscon.org/forms/allocations/Summary%20of%20Major%20Holocaust%20Compensation%20Programs.pdf

  • Holocaust Victim Assets Litigation (Swiss Banks). (2000). Holocaust Compensation. Retrieved from http://www.swissbankclaims.com/Documents_New/665994.pdf

  • Proctor, R. (1988). Racial Hygiene: Medicine Under the Nazis. Harvard University Press.

  • Turda, M., & Weindling, P. (2007). “Blood and Homeland”: Eugenics and Racial Nationalism in Central and Southeast Europe, 1900-1940. Central European University Press.

  • Brothers, E. (2010, December 18). Blacks (Afro-Germans) in Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. Suite101. Text. Retrieved August 31, 2013, from http://suite101.com/article/blacks-afro-germans-in-nazi-germany-and-the-holocaust-a322649

  • Kestling, R. W. (1998). Blacks under the swastika: A research note. The Journal of Negro History, 83(1), 84–99.

  • National Union of Teachers. (n.d.). Nazi Persecution of Black People. The Stategy and Communications Department of the National Union of Teachers. Retrieved from http://www.teachers.org.uk/files/Black-victims-4pp-A4.pdf

  • CBC News Staff. (2012, May 25). German medical group apologizes for Holocaust role. CBS News. Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-57441586-10391704/german-medical-association-apologizes-for-nazi-era-experiments/

  • Greenhouse, S. (2003, November 19). Capping the Cost of Atrocity; Survivor of Nazi Experiments Says $8,000 Isn’t Enough. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/19/nyregion/capping-the-cost-of-atrocity-survivor-of-nazi-experiments-says-8000-isn-t-enough.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

  • Harvard Law School Library Nuremberg Trials Project: A Digital Document Collection. Introduction to NMT Case 1: U.S.A. v. Karl Brandt et al. Retrieved from http://nuremberg.law.harvard.edu/php/docs_swi.php?DI=1&text=medical

  • Holocaust Victim Assets Litigation (Swiss Banks). (2000). Holocaust Compensation. Retrieved from http://www.swissbankclaims.com/Documents_New/665994.pdf

  • Livingston, E. H. (2012). German medical group: Apology for Nazi physicians’ actions, warning for future. JAMA, 308(7), 657–658.

  • Strzelecka, I. (n.d.). Medical experiments in Auschwitz. Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum. Retrieved September 1, 2013, from http://en.auschwitz.org/h/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=10&limit=1&limitstart=2

Germany

On July 14, 1933, the Nazi Government introduced the Law for the Protection of Genetically Diseased Offspring (Gesetz zur Verhuetung erbkranken Nachwuchses). This law intended to prevent the spread of hereditary diseases by sterilizing individuals who were believed to suffer from, or that their offspring would suffer from, severe physical and psychological disorders (Turda and Weindling, 2007, p. 294). It is estimated that 400,000 people were sterilized under the provisions of this 1933 law (Proctor, 1988, p. 109).

Sterilizations continued through World War II and Nazi power in Germany. Eugenic ideas were taken further than sterilization with the implementation of Action T4 (Tiergartenstraße 4), a euthanasia program, used to kill people who were physically and mentally disabled, incurably ill and elderly (Berenbaum, n.d.).

Although the severity of Nazi crimes were recognized and compensated for after Hitler’s period of National Socialism, sterilization was not initially acknowledged. In a summary of all major compensation programs initially provided to victims of the Holocaust, the Netherlands’ “Victims of Persecution Benefits Act” was the only program that identified ‘sterilization victim’ as criteria for compensation (“Holocaust Victim Assets Litigation, 2000b).

When the issue of sterilization compensation was eventually brought to light, German authorities would only provide compensation to an individual who could prove that they were sterilized outside the provisions of the 1933 law (Proctor, 1988, p. 117). Compensation was provided for individuals who were sterilized as part of medical experiments conducted in concentration camps (see Germany (Auschwitz)’s Sterilization Compensation) (Holocaust Victim Assets Litigation, 2000a, p. 107; Fisher, 1998, p. 535). It was not until December 1980 that compensation, in the form of a one-time payment of DM 5,000 (~$3,000 USD at the time), was given to people who had been sterilized (Holocaust Victim Assets Litigation, 2000a, p. 107

“Whoever is not bodily and spiritually healthy and worthy shall not have the right to pass on his suffering in the body of his children.” - Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf

Auschwitz
Sterilizations were performed at Auschwitz, as well as other concentration camps, between March 1931 and January 1945 (Harvard Law School Library Nuremberg Trials Project: A Digital Document Collection, n.d.). Medical experts and officials at Auschwitz worked to develop the most effective form of mass sterilization through various experiments on internees of the concentration camp. Some of these medical experiments included sterilization through means of chemically growing a woman’s fallopian tubes together or by subjecting men’s and women’s genitalia to severe radiation burns from x-rays (Strzelecka, n.d., p. 2-3). Due to complications and exstensive harm, only a small portion of the victims survived these experiments and Auschwitz (Strzelecka, n.d., p. 3).

Compensation has been provided to survivors of the Holocaust and their heirs since the end of World War II. On May 23, 2012, the German Medical Group adopted a declaration apologizing for Nazi-era medical experiments done by physicians (CBC News Staff, 2012).

Mixed-race Children
Sterilizations took place in an area of Germany called Rhineland. Must to the resentment of Germans, this area was occupied by French African troops. Anti-black sentiments were strong, especially towards the “Rhineland bastards” – children of black soldiers and white German women. German officials did not want these children to pass on their mixed-race blood to other Germans; beginning in 1937, they were taken under secret orders and approximately 400 mixed-race children were sterilized (Kestling, 1998, p. 87; Brothers, 2010). No apology has been given to these victims and it is unknown whether or not compensation has been provided to date (National Union of Teachers, n.d.).

Additional information can be found about Rhineland and the persecution of Blacks in the Holocaust in the following documents:
Nazi Persecution of Black People
Persecution and Segregation in the Holocaust

-Laura Shaw

  • Berenbaum, M. (n.d.). T4 Program (Nazi policy). In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/714411/T4-Program

  • Fisher, B. A. (1998). No roads lead to Rom: the fate of the Romani people under the Nazis and in post-war restitution. Whittier L. Rev., 20, 513.

  • German Federal Ministry of Finance. (2011, August). Compensation for National Socialist Injustice Indemnification Provisions. Public Relations Divison Federal Ministry of Finance.

  • Holocaust Victim Assets Litigation. (2000). Summary of Major Holocaust Compensation Programs. Retrieved from http://www.claimscon.org/forms/allocations/Summary%20of%20Major%20Holocaust%20Compensation%20Programs.pdf

  • Holocaust Victim Assets Litigation (Swiss Banks). (2000). Holocaust Compensation. Retrieved from http://www.swissbankclaims.com/Documents_New/665994.pdf

  • Proctor, R. (1988). Racial Hygiene: Medicine Under the Nazis. Harvard University Press.

  • Turda, M., & Weindling, P. (2007). “Blood and Homeland”: Eugenics and Racial Nationalism in Central and Southeast Europe, 1900-1940. Central European University Press.

  • Brothers, E. (2010, December 18). Blacks (Afro-Germans) in Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. Suite101. Text. Retrieved August 31, 2013, from http://suite101.com/article/blacks-afro-germans-in-nazi-germany-and-the-holocaust-a322649

  • Kestling, R. W. (1998). Blacks under the swastika: A research note. The Journal of Negro History, 83(1), 84–99.

  • National Union of Teachers. (n.d.). Nazi Persecution of Black People. The Stategy and Communications Department of the National Union of Teachers. Retrieved from http://www.teachers.org.uk/files/Black-victims-4pp-A4.pdf

  • CBC News Staff. (2012, May 25). German medical group apologizes for Holocaust role. CBS News. Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-57441586-10391704/german-medical-association-apologizes-for-nazi-era-experiments/

  • Greenhouse, S. (2003, November 19). Capping the Cost of Atrocity; Survivor of Nazi Experiments Says $8,000 Isn’t Enough. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/19/nyregion/capping-the-cost-of-atrocity-survivor-of-nazi-experiments-says-8000-isn-t-enough.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

  • Harvard Law School Library Nuremberg Trials Project: A Digital Document Collection. Introduction to NMT Case 1: U.S.A. v. Karl Brandt et al. Retrieved from http://nuremberg.law.harvard.edu/php/docs_swi.php?DI=1&text=medical

  • Holocaust Victim Assets Litigation (Swiss Banks). (2000). Holocaust Compensation. Retrieved from http://www.swissbankclaims.com/Documents_New/665994.pdf

  • Livingston, E. H. (2012). German medical group: Apology for Nazi physicians’ actions, warning for future. JAMA, 308(7), 657–658.

  • Strzelecka, I. (n.d.). Medical experiments in Auschwitz. Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum. Retrieved September 1, 2013, from http://en.auschwitz.org/h/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=10&limit=1&limitstart=2