“Forgotten” is a heavy word. Today, standing before the Opfer der Euthanasie Stele, we confront a deliberate forgetting. This stele and the surrounding memorial here at the Erziehungswissenschaftliche Fakultät, or Faculty of Education, is dedicated to remembering the children murdered through Nazi euthanasia programs.
The Opfer der Euthanasie Stele stands as part of a larger memorial. It includes a garden meant to be cared for. There is also a concrete desk with iron chairs. The memorial aims to provoke thought. It also fights against the continued discrimination against people with disabilities.
Leipzig carries a heavy history regarding euthanasia. Karl Binding, a former rector of the University of Leipzig, co-authored a text. It was titled “The Permission to Destroy Life Unworthy of Life”. This book helped create an environment where the murder of disabled people became acceptable.
The Nazis later used Binding’s ideas as justification. They used it for their euthanasia program. This program systematically murdered people with disabilities. They also killed those with mental and other illnesses.
As early as 1933, the University of Leipzig began teaching “racial studies” to students. That same year, Professor Werner Catel became the director. He directed the University Children’s Clinic Leipzig. Catel later established special children’s units. These units existed at the Heil- und Pflegeanstalt Leipzig-Dösen. They also existed within the University Children’s Clinic. Children and young people deemed “defective” were killed there. Overdoses of medication, neglect, or starvation were used.
The inscription on the Opfer der Euthanasie Stele reads, “Against forgetting in the past, present, and future.” It speaks to the children killed in the Kinderfachabteilungen. These so-called children’s specialist units began in 1940. The site encourages reflection. It also considers the ongoing marginalization. It also considers the degradation of people with disabilities, particularly children.
The memorial includes a “small garden for the children”. Artist Andreas Wendt said it should remind us. It should remind us how important it is to never forget the suffering. The suffering of the victims during the Nazi era. This suffering came from perpetrators and those tolerated at the University of Leipzig.
Tobias Rost, another artist, created the concrete desk and iron chairs. He said the chairs are empty. Each person can take the position of the victims and the perpetrators.
The University of Leipzig financed the memorial. It stands as a reminder that science must serve humanity. It must adhere to ethical principles. These principles uphold the humanity and dignity of every individual. The location at the Faculty of Education is intentional. The university hopes future teachers will learn from the past. They hope they will develop inclusive and socially just educational practices.
Let this Opfer der Euthanasie Stele be more than a monument. Let it be a constant call to action. Let it be a reminder that our work towards an inclusive and equitable society is never truly finished. We must never forget. We must always strive to create a world where such atrocities never happen again.