The Deaf Holocaust: Deaf People And Nazi Germany
As part of the season of programmes commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Holocaust and the liberation of Auschwitz, Clive Mason visits the killing centre of Hadamar to investigate the development and impact of the Nazi policy of enforced sterilisation and the murder of deaf and disabled people, which took place in Germany between 1933 and 1945. Members of the German deaf community, who are still living with the legacy of this brutal Nazi policy, tell their moving stories for the first time on television.
From the UK, in English narration & Sign language. No working link to the video could be found.
However in researching this further, JDCC News came across this ”SeeHear’ webpage on the BCC site at www.bbc.co.uk/seehear/extra/nazispecial/
“The Deaf Holocaust: Deaf People and Nazi Germany” broadcast on BBC channels in February, 2005.
“As part of the season of programmes commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Holocaust and the liberation of Auschwitz, Clive Mason visits the killing centre of Hadamar to investigate the development and impact of the Nazi policy of enforced sterilisation and the murder of deaf and disabled people, which took place in Germany between 1933 and 1945. Members of the German deaf community, who are still living with the legacy of this brutal Nazi policy, tell their moving stories for the first time on television.
“A longer version of this programme, with the title Life Unworthy of Life, was first shown in March 2004.”
Other Helpful Resources
The SeeHear website provides more information on how deaf and disabled people treated by the Nazi party as among those judged to be ‘inferior’ or ‘weak’ and should be eradicated “to protect the ‘purity’ of the gene pool.”
- Also covered is sterilisation to “prevent the ‘unfit’ from having children.”
- On Education, the webpage states “Some Nazi educationalists even began to question the right of deaf children to be educated at all, believing the education of the ‘inferior’ to be wasteful.”
- Abortions, and those considered as ‘useless eaters’ were other categories. There are also useful ‘Quick Facts’, Web Resources, and further reading lists.
Sources:
Film – docuwiki.net/index.php?title=Deaf_Holocaust_-_Deaf_People_and_Nazi_Germany
Visuals – docuwiki.net/index.php?title=Image:Deaf-Holocaust-Deaf-People-and-Nazi-Germany-Screen0.jpg
SeeHear Website – www.bbc.co.uk/seehear/extra/nazispecial/
