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| The Nazi Euthanasia center at Grafeneck! www.Holo |
Grafeneck Castle in 1940
Situated on a hill near Marbach in the Münsingen district, Grafeneck Castle was built between 1556 and 1560. Between1762-1772, Duke Karl Eugen converted the castle to a more contemporary style. In 1929 a Samaritan foundation in Stuttgart took over the building to serve as a hospice for invalids. Early in October 1939, Dr Herbert Linden of the Health Ministry visited Eugen Stähle, the official in the Württemberg Ministry of Interior responsible for health care, and asked for Stähle’s cooperation in finding a relatively small institution "to implement euthanasia"; Stähle offered Grafeneck, and on 14 October 1939 Grafeneck Castle was duly confiscated. 10-15 manual labourers from nearby villages began to convert the castle into a killing centre.
A short distance from the castle several barracks were built, fenced in with a hoarding up to 4m high. An additional 5m screen hid the gas chamber and crematorium. On the first floor of the castle the required amenities were installed; accommodation and offices for doctors, a registry office, a police office, an office for the letters of condolence, and various other departments. Quarters for personnel were on the second floor. The main building of the killing facility was a barrack (68 m long and 7 m wide), which included several rooms. In one of them 100 beds were placed, covered with straw mattresses. A wooden barrack served as the reception centre for arriving patients. Next to it, an old coach house was converted to accommodate the gas chamber; it was disguised as a shower room with showerheads and wooden benches. At first, the chamber had the capacity to gas 40-50 persons at one time; later it was enlarged to hold 75 victims. A small room adjacent to the chamber contained the valves to activate the gassing process.
Read the full article about Grafeneck here:
http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/euthan/grefeneck.htm l
The Holocaust Education & Archive Research Team
www.HolocaustResearchProject.org
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