Selection and killing - The treatment of children "not worth living" during the period of National Socialism and the role of child and adolescent psychiatry

During the period of National Socialism in Germany, many "asocial", mentall y retarded or disabled miners were persecuted. Several measures had been di scussed theoretically before, but the National Socialists put the theoretic al proposals into practice. As a result children and adolescents were separ ated, sterilized or killed. In concentration camps so-railed "depraved" min ers were selected to get special education. The object of this effort was t o adapt miners to the ideology of national socialism. After passing the law to sterilize patients with "hereditary diseases" in 1933 about 375,000 peo ple were sterilizised unvoluntarily, In 1939 sterilizations came to an end except for adolescents at "high risk of reproduction". During the second wo rld war more than 160,000 adult psychiatric patients were murdered, In addi tion 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 wer e also used as research subjects. Their death was an accepted consequence. Physicians were also very interested in brain research. Finally the relatio n to German child and adolescent psychiatry will be analysed. In the specia l political and social context of the Third Reich the German child and adol escent psychiatry became more significant. As a result of this the German a ssociation of child and adolescent psychiatry and allied professions was fo unded 1940 in Vienna. On this conference, some speakers suggested to persec ute "asocial" miners. This suggestion was realized consequently. Up to now, the role of the German child and adolescent psychiatry has not been thorou ghly discussed.