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Dark secrets of psychiatry: New revelations in Ueckermünde!
In the book by Dr. Kathleen Haack uncovers the dark history of psychiatry under National Socialism, with a focus on Ueckermünde.
Dark secrets of psychiatry: New revelations in Ueckermünde!
A new book on the dark history of psychiatry during National Socialism was presented in Ueckermünde. On June 18, 2025, the presentation of Dr. Kathleen Haack's work “From the institutional boom to the Nazi murder of the sick – Psychiatry in Ueckermünde and Pomerania in the 19th and 20th centuries” ( Northern Courier ). The author, a medical historian with over ten years of research experience, highlights in her 400-page book the atrocities that were committed against thousands of mentally ill and disabled people between 1939 and 1944.
A particularly shocking aspect of the coming to terms with it can be found in the individual fates of the victims, which are discussed in the book. Examples include the harrowing stories of Erika Kuckuck, who died at the age of just 14, and 90-year-old Albertine Adloff, who was gassed in 1940. 5-year-old Marianne Richter is also one of the victims who lost her life in the gas van. Such fates show how brutal reality was for many people and demand a thorough examination of the past.
Raise awareness and process history
The book was presented as part of the 150th anniversary of psychiatric care in Ueckermünde. This documents not only the history of psychiatry in Pomerania, but also the profound reversal of humanistic approaches in psychiatric care during the Nazi era. Dr. Haack evaluated historical patient files to create transparency about the circumstances. The clinic's files contain documents that substantiate the crimes and show that many people mistakenly believed that the clinic only served as a transfer station ( AMEOS ).
This review is of immense importance because for a long time the public knew little about the actual events. State Science Minister Bettina Martin praised the AMEOS group's remembrance work and emphasized the need to shed light on the past in order to learn from history. Bundestag member Philipp Amthor also said that he had hardly learned anything about this time at school and hopes that the book will be used as teaching material in schools.
A dark chapter in history
The National Socialists' euthanasia program, to which at least 250,000 mentally ill and disabled people fell victim, is a disastrous chapter in German history. The killing methods listed in the book, such as starvation, poisoning with luminal and gassing in railway carriages, are just some of the atrocities that characterized psychiatry during this time ( DGPPN ).
Under the pretext of “racial hygiene” and “eugenics,” mentally ill people were viewed as inferior and brutally scrutinized. The T4 campaign, which was officially stopped in 1941, did not stop. Many doctors involved in this humanitarian disaster went unpunished or received lenient sentences after the war. These facts are not only part of psychiatric history, but also a warning for the future.
The processing, as Dr. Haack does in her book, creates awareness of the horrors of the past and shows the importance of a transparent discussion in order to prevent such fates from repeating themselves. Only by dealing with history can we continue to develop as a society and maintain the memory of the victims.