Dark secrets of psychiatry: new revelations in Ueckermünde!

Dark secrets of psychiatry: new revelations in Ueckermünde!

In Ueckermünde, a new book on the dark history of psychiatry was presented during National Socialism. On June 18, 2025, Dr. Kathleen Haack's work "From institutional boom to the Nazi hospitality-psychiatry in Ueckermünde and Pomerania in the 19th and 20th centuries" ( Nordkurier ). The author, medical historian with over ten years of research experience, highlights the atrocities in her 400 -page book, which were committed to thousands of mentally ill people between 1939 and 1944.

A particularly shocking aspect of the processing can be found in the individual fates of the victims, which are discussed in the book. Here are the shattering stories of Erika Kuckuck, who died at the age of only 14, or 90-year-old Albertine Adloff, who was gassed in 1940. 5-year-old Marianne Richter is also one of the victims who lost their lives in the gas truck. Such fates show how brutally reality was for many people and demand a detailed examination of the past.

create awareness and process history

The book was presented as part of the 150th anniversary of psychiatric care in Ueckermünde. This not only documents the history of psychiatry in Pomerania, but also the profound reversal of humanistic approaches in psychiatric care during the Nazi era. Dr. Haack has evaluated historical patient files to create transparency about the circumstances. In the clinic files, documents that show the crimes and show that many people mistakenly believed that the clinic had only served as a publication station ( Ameos ).

This processing is of immense importance, since in public little knew about the actual events for a long time. The State Science Minister Bettina Martin praised the memory work of the Ameos Group and emphasized the need to shed light on the past to learn from history. Member of the Bundestag Philipp Amthor also said that he had hardly learned anything about this time at school and hopes that the book is used as teaching material in schools.

a dark chapter of history

The National Socialists' euthanasia program, which fell victim to at least 250,000 mentally ill and people with disabilities, is an ominous chapter in German history. The killing methods listed in the book, such as starvation, poisoning with luminal and gasification in railway wagons, are just a few of the cruelty that shaped psychiatry during this time ( dgppn ).

under the pretext of "racial hygiene" and "eugenics", mentally ill people were considered inferior and brutally questioned. The Action T4, which was officially stopped in 1941, did not let tear. Many doctors who were involved in this humanitarian catastrophe remained undisputed after the war or received mild punishments. These facts are not only part of psychiatric history, but also a warning for the future.

The processing as Dr. Haack operates in her book, raises awareness of the atrocities of the past and shows the importance of a transparent discussion to prevent such fates from repeating themselves. Only by dealing with history can we develop as a society and maintain memory of the victims.