Nazi Persecution of the Disabled: Murder of "The Unfit"

Nazi Persecution of the Disabled: Murder of "The Unfit"

NAZI PERSECUTION OF THE DISABLED: MURDER OF "The Unfit"The Nazi persecution of persons with disabilities in Germany was one component of radical public health policies aimed at excluding hereditarily "unfit" Germans from the national community. These strategies began with forced sterilization and escalated toward mass murder. The most extreme measure, the Euthanasia Program, was in itself a rehearsal for Nazi Germany's broader genocidal policies. It is estimated that 275,000 adults and children were murdered because of their disabilities.


The ideological justification conceived by medical perpetrators for the destruction of the "unfit" was also applied to other categories of "biological enemies," most notably to Jews and Roma (Gypsies). Compulsory sterilization and "euthanasia," like the "Final Solution," were components of a biomedical vision which imagined a racially and genetically pure and productive society, and embraced unthinkable strategies to eliminate those who did not fit within that vision.Throughout this Special Focus page and its related links, you will see translations of terms used during the Nazi regime; please note that although many of these terms are unacceptable or offensive today, they are included here as examples of Nazi terminology and the propaganda campaign used to justify mass murder.
HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCELinks:
Euthanasia ProgramGassing OperationsMosaic of VictimsThe Handicapped(USHMM Library bibliography)The Mentally and Physically Handicapped: Victims of the Nazi Era(USHMM brochure)Crying Hands: Eugenics and Deaf People in Nazi Germany(USHMM Library featured item)The Origins of Nazi Genocide: From Euthanasia to the Final Solution(USHMM Library featured item)The Nazi Persecution of Deaf People(Panel Presentation, Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, August 2001)