Introducing 

Prezi AI.

Your new presentation assistant.

Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.

Loading content…
Loading…
Transcript

The Nazi Euthanasia Program

By: Austin Darnell

Works Cited

  • Dorman, Jennifer, ed. The Right to Die. Detroit, MI: Greenhaven, 2010. Print.

  • "Holocaust History." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 6 Jan. 2011. Web. Jan.-Feb. 2012. <http://www.ushmm.org/>.

  • Yount, Lisa. Euthanasia. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven, 2002. Print.

The Nazi Euthanasia Program

  • Euthanasia- Induced death of one person who is terminally ill and would suffer more otherwise.
  • The Nazis killed all who were considered as undisirable
  • It was the Nazi program for killing the mentally and physically disabled
  • They believed that the disabled were a genetic and financial burden on Germany
  • It was the precursor to the Holocaust, occuring two years before hand
  • The Euthanasia program has left a lasting impression on many German families
  • The first Nazi mass murder program
  • Utilized to "restore" the racial integrity of Germany
  • Many families were left uncertain of the fate of their relatives and never found out until much later on
  • Many victims were already institutionalized beforehand
  • Inorder to prevent protesting, the Nazis streamed movies like Clint Eastwood's, Million Dollar Baby, to give the impression that euthanasia as an ok thing
  • So many hospitals were emptied out, that they were used as barracks and munitions departments
  • The child Euthanasia program started in the summer of 1939
  • All disabled children under three were reported to the government
  • It was Germany's experiment of mass murder before the Holocaust began
  • The Euthanasia program took a total of over 200,000 lives in all of its phases
  • The children were admitted to special wings of the hospitals and killed by lethal injection or starvation
  • The age limit was then extended to people seventeen and below

  • Thus far, over 5,000 people had been killed
  • Hitler then signed a secret authorization to extend the program to institutionalized adults
  • They also utilized gas vans as a means of extermination
  • The authorization was then back dated to September 1, 1939, to avoid suspicion
  • The T4 program was developed that same fall to continue the killing

Euthanasia Before and during the War

Euthanasia's Original meaning and interpretation

  • The program also extended its reach to Germany's territories outside of their country

Nazi euthanasia's impact on Germany

The "Ending" of the program and the beginning of Phase 2

  • In Pomerania, Prussia, and occupied Poland the SS and police force started to hold mass shootings to murder patients
  • The victims were gassed to death with Carbon Monoxide and cremated
  • The remains were compiled into a large pile, where ashes were contained and sent to the family with a fake means of death
  • After an uprising from the families and the clergy, Hitler ordered a false halt to the program in 1941
  • The program had taken the lives of 70,273 people from January, 1940, to August, 1941
  • Local authorities determined the pace of the killings
  • Lethal injection and drug overdose were the new employed tactics
  • The child euthanasia program continued as planned
  • The killings became much more secretive
Learn more about creating dynamic, engaging presentations with Prezi