Diagnosis of Deafness during National Socialism – Taking Account, Remembrance and Responsibility

True to the National Socialist racial ideology, the Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring was passed on 14 July 1933. The aim of the law was to eliminate hereditarily diseased people from reproduction by means of forced sterilisation. Hereditary deafness is explicitly listed. The work presented here examines the application of this law to deaf patients using the example of the Taubstummenanstalt in Berlin as an educational institution for teachers of the deaf.

Method:

Selective literature research and evaluation of the original documents preserved from 1933 – 1938.

Results:

Joint efforts were undertaken by ENT doctors, NS medical officers and teachers of the deaf and mute to identify allegedly hereditarily diseased children. By 1936, 116 possible cases had been identified and 36 children reported. 11 deaf children were forcibly sterilised in the years up until 1936. There was also an enormous pressure placed on doctors and teachers at the educational institution. There were thus several attempts from outside to replace them with members of the National Socialist party, since the actions they took, despite the above-mentioned reports, were supposedly too little for the purposes of the Nazi racial ideology.

Discussion:

Under the Nazi regime, the forced sterilisation of hereditarily deaf people was regulated by law. Establishing a diagnosis was thus far more than a purely medical assessment. It was influenced by ideology and politics. The role played by ENT doctors and teachers of the deaf-mute during the Nazi era must continue to serve as a warning and consciously remind us of the fundamental principles of our medical profession, humanity and human dignity.

Publication History

Publication Date:
23 April 2019 (online)