Divergent Persecution: The Varied Treatment of the Disabled in the Third Reich

This paper looks at the evolution of the Nazi’s treatment of the disabled. Their persecution changed over time based on public perception and the events of the war. Removing disabled people from Germany society was a practice long advocated for by Nazi leadership, Hitler in particular. With their rise to power, they began implementing policies that targeted the disabled. Initially, they began with prohibiting disabled people from marrying. sterilization of those with undesired traits. These operated publicly and had mixed approval from the broader public. The shift to mass slaughter came in 1939 after a plea from a disabled boy’s father reached Hitler, thus beginning the T4 program. Hundreds of thousands would be killed through different means, many patients and their loved ones believing they were being sent to medical facility for treatment, not slaughter. People steadily learned the truth, and protested against the killings, often coming from religious circles. The program was officially canceled in 1941 but continued unofficially. Disabled people also were put through brutal correctional facilities which sought to reform them if they could. One of the more famous of these was Am Spigelgrund which sought to make the disabled more suitable for the German community. The brutal treatment of the disabled would continue on until several years after the conclusion of World War Two.