Selection and destruction--treatment of "unworthy-to-live" children in the Third Reich and the role of child and adolescent psychiatry

During the period of National Socialism in Germany, many "asocial", mentally retarded or disabled minors were persecuted. Several measures had been discussed theoretically before, but the National Socialists put the theoretical proposals into practice. As a result children and adolescents were separated, sterilized or killed. In concentration camps so-called "depraved" minors were selected to get special education. The object of this effort was to adapt minors to the ideology of national socialism. After passing the law to sterilize patients with "hereditary diseases" in 1933 about 375.000 people were sterilized unvoluntarily. In 1939 sterilizations came to an end except for adolescents at "high risk of reproduction". During the second world war more than 160.000 adult psychiatric patients were murdered. In addition to that, also a large number of disabled and mentally retarded minors were killed. This campaign was called child "euthanasia". Physicians tried to determine children's "value of life" by economic criteria. Children with negative ratings (i.e. inability to work or insufficient mental maturing) were killed by fasting "cures" or by barbiturates. Beyond that children were also used as research subjects. Their death was an accepted consequence. Physicians were also very interested in brain research. Finally, the relation to German child and adolescent psychiatry will be analysed. In the special political and social context of the Third Reich the German child and adolescent psychiatry became more significant. As a result of this the German association of child and adolescent psychiatry and allied professions was founded 1940 in Vienna. On this conference, some speakers suggested to persecute "asocial" minors. This suggestion was realized consequently. Up to now, the role of the German child and adolescent psychiatry has not been thoroughly discussed.