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Heidelberg: A city between medical scandal and black book of history
A historian publishes a book on forced sterilizations in Heidelberg during the Nazi era, highlighting the dark past.
Heidelberg: A city between medical scandal and black book of history
in Heidelberg, the dark history of compulsory sterilization is brought back into the light. The Karlsruhe historian Diana Kail released her book "Forced sterilization in Heidelberg" on December 15, in which she documents the shocking reality of these medical crimes between 1934 and 1945. Historical files of the hereditary health court show that Heidelberg played a key role in the implementation of compulsory sterilizations that affected over 300,000 people in the then German Empire. It is particularly frightening that about one percent of the population in Eppelheim was affected by these interventions, while the average in the German Reich was 0.4 percent. As the Mannheimer Morgen , citizens of the city often received their names of doctors and citizens who classified them as "hereditary sick".
law on contraception inherited youngsters
The basis for this systematic discrimination was the "Law for Prevention of Inheritance Iris in 1933. Under the pretext of creating an "improved" society, the National Socialists carried out compulsory sterilization, which often took place under the pressure of doctors and authorities. In many cases, those affected were not even heard personally, and the opportunity to defend themselves against the decision of the hereditary health court was systematically restricted. This left devastating traces in the life of many people and is considered a dark chapter in Heidelberg's history, as the historian Frank Engehausen, also cited.
In the current debate about the cultural cultural processing of the Nazi past, it becomes clear that more knowledge has to be created via the medical crimes and the connection to local authorities in Heidelberg. While the topic is still often taboo in society, Kail's book documents direct responsibility and the failure of the institutions at the time. The connection between social fear and the urge to "cleanliness" cannot be ignored, and the processing of this past remains of central importance for Heidelberg in order to experience the full truth and to complete the historiography, as in the Rheinpfalz is explained.