Epilepsy in Nazi Germany

Abstract

Epilepsy is one of the oldest recognised diseases in human history. It has been known by thousands of names, and people with epilepsy have faced the challenge of being a cynosure of the public in every epoch. During the period of National Socialism (Nazism) in Germany from 1933 to 1945, around 300,000 people with physical, mental, and psychological disabilities (most of them with epilepsy) were first forced to be sterilized and then systematically murdered under the guise of “euthanasia.” In particular, the mass murder policy, “Aktion-T4,” which was fundamentally based on the agenda of racial hygiene and eugenics, committed anti-human crimes involving euthanasia starting in 1939. In 1933, the “Law for the Prevention of Offspring with Hereditary Diseases” (Gesetz zur Verhütung erbkranken Nachwuchses) was enacted, which aimed to annihilate the ill. Some of the motives related to the extermination of disabled and mentally ill persons by the Nazi regime can be traced back to the ideology of eugenics, racism and antisemitism, and factors entangled with war economy and medical research. Since 1948, some reports have released partial results of the Nuremberg Trials regarding the mass murder of disabled and mentally ill persons in Germany under the Nazi regime. Key words: Epilepsy; National Socialism; Forced sterilization; Euthanasia; Antisemitism; Aktion-T4.