Grafeneck euthanasia centre

Grafeneck euthanasia centre - darkometer rating : 6 - One of the six "euthanasia" centres of Operation T4 , the Nazis ' programme of systematically murdering mentally ill and disabled people during the Third Reich . Grafeneck in south-west Germany was indeed the first institution to be given that specific function. Today's memorial is, however, only one of the smaller and less developed ones of its type. > More background info > What there is to see > Location > Access and costs > Time required > Combinations with other dark destinations > Combinations with non-dark destinations > Photos More background info: " Aktion T4 " was the internal code name for a programme of "mercy killings" of "incurable patients" who were suffering, in particular, from mental illness or other disabilities and in Nazi ideology were thus considered "unworthy of being alive" ('lebensunwertes Leben) and a burden to society. So it was decided to get rid of them, under the mantle of research as well as purifying society, through "euthanasia". After the systematic killings were authorized by Hitler in 1940 (shortly after WWII had begun), preparations were made and the castle at Grafeneck, until then a Samaritan care home, was confiscated. It was to be the first place specifically given over to the purpose of implementing Operation T4 (in the end there were six such centres – cf. especially Hadamar and Hartheim ). The previous occupants were forced to move out and the Nazis took over. A gas chamber was installed by specially adapting a shed with airtight steel doors. Following initial "tests" at Brandenburg , the first "batches" of selected victims systematically chosen from various mental institutions in the region began to arrive at Grafeneck from spring 1940.