Eugenics, Euthanasia, and Aftermath

Abstract

The reputation of psychiatry in Germany was severely damaged after World War II when the atrocities committed in the name of National Socialism were brought to light. The eugenics movement and the discussion of euthanasia of the chronically ill had developed over many years before they became an integral part of National Socialism. Under National Socialism, they developed into involuntary sterilization and the killing of psychiatric patients. We examine how these elements became an integral part of psychiatric thinking in Germany during the Nazi terror. In addition, we analyze how the killing of patients, euphemistically called euthanasia, was seen and commented on by the American press between 1941 and 1945. We show that the press reception of Nazi euthanasia and of the wholesale extermination of Jews in Eastern Europe followed similar patterns. Psychiatric or disabled patients did not get the support they needed from abroad. Nazi power had to be overcome and all the atrocities of the Nazis had to be brought to light before anyone appreciated the suffering of the mentally ill.

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