Disability Awareness Month: Remembering The Nazis’ First Victims of Mass Murder

Robert Wagemann was just four years old when his mother overheard Nazi doctors discussing plans to kill him because of his shattered hip. German officials falsely claimed that Helene Melanie Lebel died from a mental health episode, but she was actually gassed because of her disability.

During World War II, some medical professionals murdered patients who threatened the Nazis’ ideal of a “pure” German race. Life was cut short for an estimated 250,000 people under this program. Join the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) to learn about the victims—and the perpetrators, who instead of protecting their patients, ended the lives of those with mental and physical disabilities.

Guest
Dr. Patricia Heberer Rice, Senior Historian, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Host
Dr. Edna Friedberg, Historian, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Watch live at facebook.com/holocaustmuseum. You do not need a Facebook account to view USHMM's program. After the live broadcast, the recording will be available to watch on demand on USHMM’s Facebook and YouTube pages.