Remembering the 14,000 euthanasia deaths at the Pirna Sonnenstein T-4 killing centre

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Pirna-Sonnerstein

An article published by Diesachsen News on January 26, for the January 27 Holocaust Remembrance Day concerned the victims of euthanasia at Pirna-Sonnerstein, a T-4 killing centre during the second world war.

Dieschsen news reported that Saxony's Minister President Michael Kretschmer (CDU) called on people to be vigilant on the occasion of the day of remembrance for the victims of National Socialism. Kretschmer stated:

"We cannot undo history," he said today at the state's central commemoration ceremony in Pirna-Sonnenstein."But by remembering and mourning together, we can keep the memory of the victims alive and be vigilant against any trivialization of dictatorship and contempt for humanity."

Michael Kretschmer

With reference to the millions of people who died during the Holocaust and the 14,000 people who were killed by euthanasia at Pirna Sonnenstein, Kretschmer stated:

"There is no statute of limitations on this injustice," he said with a view to January 27, which is also the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz extermination camp. "The path to the extermination camps began with the contempt for sick people, with the judgment of people as worthy of life and unworthy of life." On Sonnenstein and in Großschweidnitz, too, sanatoriums were turned into places where human lives were systematically extinguished.

The article continued with the laying of wreaths.

Kretschmer, President of the State Parliament Alexander Dierks, several ministers and representatives of the diplomatic corps, the Jewish communities and the churches honored those murdered together with some descendants with a wreath-laying ceremony at the Pirna memorial site. Between 1940 and 1941, almost 14,000 people fell victim to the Nazis' "euthanasia" crimes at the "sanatorium", which was converted into a killing center at the time.

The day of remembrance reminds us to "do everything we can to ensure that the dark chapters of history are not repeated", said Minister of Culture Conrad Clemens (CDU). Keeping the memory alive is part of historical-political education and part of learning at school. In the late afternoon, a memorial concert was planned in Pirna's St. Mary's Church, where the New Jewish Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra would perform works by persecuted and ostracized composers.

January 27, the day on which Red Army units liberated the Auschwitz extermination camp in 1945, has been a nationwide day of remembrance for the victims of National Socialism since 1996 and is also the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust.

In May 2024, I visited the T-4 Killing centres in Grafeneck, Hartheim castle and Hadamar. I also visited the Berlin T-4 euthanasia memorial in Berlin in September 2023.

Links to more articles on this topic:

• The Hadamar T-4 euthanasia centre killed approximately 15,000 people (Link).
• The Hartheim castle T-4 euthanasia centre killed 30,000 people (Link).
• Grafeneck T-4 euthanasia complex killed more than 10,000 people (Link).
• Berlin memorial to the victims murdered by the T-4 Euthanasia Program (Link).
• Healthcare sector supported the Nazi euthanasia program (Link).
• Infant euthanasia. Is history repeating itself? (Link).