Am Spiegelgrund clinic

Am Spiegelgrund was the name of a "children's clinic" in Vienna. Although called a clinic it in fact was a centre for the euthanasia of children.

Context

Hitler's "Final Solution" was the genocide of every Jew in Europe. There were also many euthanasia centres in Germany and Austria for people suffering from mental diseases or handicaps : Bergen Belsen, Birkenau, and most infamous Auschwitz. But not just adults were killed. Children were "mercifully" sent to so called Children's Hospitals. The most prominent of these was the Kinderspital (Children's Clinic) am Spiegelgrund in Vienna.

Euthanasia of children

Spiegelgrund was a children's clinic led by Heinrich Gross. Many patients who had been deemed seriously handicapped died in mysterious circumstances. Upon inquiry, they would blame pneumonia or a fatal muscle conniption caused by the mental state of the patient. In reality, the children were being killed by lethal injection and gas poisoning.

After death, the bodies were subjected to medical experiments. Brains and other body parts were removed, placed in formaldehyde jars and stored secretly in the basement for 'research'. After the war, the remains of over 600 children were discovered in the hospital and were buried in a secret memorial service. They were officially put to rest in 2002 and Gross had his Honorary Cross for Science and Art (awarded in 1975) stripped in 2003.

Detailed coverage of the burial ceremony,as well as full background are told in the movie called Grey Matter from 2004.

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*Action T4