The Gemeinnützige Krankentransport GmbH (; known as ''"Gekrat"'' or ''"GeKraT"'', commonly translated as "Charitable Ambulance") was a subdivision of the

Action T4 (German, ) was a campaign of mass murder by involuntary euthanasia in Nazi Germany. The term was first used in post-war trials against doctors who had been involved in the killings. The name T4 is an abbreviation of 4, a street address of ...

organization. The euphemistically named company transported sick and disabled people to the Nazi killing centers to be murdered under the

Nazi eugenics Nazi eugenics refers to the social policies of eugenics in Nazi Germany, composed of various pseudoscientific ideas about genetics. The racial ideology of Nazism placed the biological improvement of the German people by selective breeding of ...

program and was known for the gray buses it used. The many victims were murdered in sealed gas chambers with

carbon monoxide Carbon monoxide (chemical formula CO) is a colorless, poisonous, odorless, tasteless, flammable gas that is slightly less dense than air. Carbon monoxide consists of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom connected by a triple bond. It is the simple ...

gas supplied in metal gas cylinders, and fed through false spray heads appearing to be shower heads. The programme

Aktion T4 (German, ) was a campaign of mass murder by involuntary euthanasia in Nazi Germany. The term was first used in post-war trials against doctors who had been involved in the killings. The name T4 is an abbreviation of 4, a street address of ...

was managed by

Viktor Brack Viktor Hermann Brack (9 November 1904 – 2 June 1948) was a member of the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) and a convicted Nazi war criminal, who was one of the prominent organisers of the euthanasia programme Aktion T4; this Nazi initiative resulted in the ...

, who was tried for his crimes at Nuremberg, and executed as a result. The operation was ordered by

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

in early September 1939, and organized by Philip Bouhler and

Karl Brandt Karl Brandt (8 January 1904 – 2 June 1948) was a German physician and ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) officer in Nazi Germany. Trained in surgery, Brandt joined the Nazi Party in 1932 and became Adolf Hitler's escort doctor in August 1934. A member of ...

of the

Reich Chancellery The Reich Chancellery (german: Reichskanzlei) was the traditional name of the office of the Chancellor of Germany (then called ''Reichskanzler'') in the period of the German Reich from 1878 to 1945. The Chancellery's seat, selected and prepared s ...

Background

Alkoven Schloss Hartheim 2005-08-18 3589

Hadamar, Euthanasiecentrum Hadamar, bussen

''Gekrat'' was created to transport the victims to the Nazi killing centers

Grafeneck Castle The Grafeneck Euthanasia Centre (german: NS-Tötungsanstalt Grafeneck) housed in Grafeneck Castle was one of Nazi Germany's killing centres as part of their forced euthanasia programme. Today, it is a memorial site dedicated to the victims of ...

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...

Schloss Hartheim Schloss Hartheim, also known as Hartheim Castle, is a castle at Alkoven in Upper Austria, some from Linz, Austria. It was built by Jakob von Aspen in 1600, and it is a prominent Renaissance castle in the country. The building became notorious as o ...

, Schloss Sonnenstein,

Bernburg Bernburg (Saale) is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, capital of the Salzlandkreis district. The former residence of the Anhalt-Bernburg princes is known for its Renaissance architecture, Renaissance castle. Geography The town centre is situated ...

and

Hadamar Euthanasia Centre The Hadamar killing centre (german: NS-Tötungsanstalt Hadamar) was a killing facility involved in the Nazi "involuntary euthanasia" programme known as ''Aktion T4''. It was housed within a psychiatric hospital located in the German town of Had ...

. It also handled some administrative tasks. When family members wrote to hospitals where their loved ones had been sent, that mail was forwarded to ''Gekrat'', which did not answer inquiries but allowed institutions to provide limited information in reply. The information was provided only as a means for the Nazis to continue receiving payment for room and board. Reinhold Vorberg headed the central office for transportation. Hermann Schwenninger was registered as the chief executive. After 1941, ''Gekrat'' also handled transportation for the

Action 14f13 Action 14f13, also called ''Sonderbehandlung'' (special treatment) 14f13 and Aktion 14f13, was a campaign by Nazi Germany to murder Nazi concentration camp prisoners. Also called ''invalid'' or ''prisoner euthanasia'', the sick, the elderly and t ...

program, which eliminated sick prisoners and those no longer able to work from

Nazi concentration camp From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps, (officially) or (more commonly). The Nazi concentration camps are distinguished from other types of Nazi camps such as forced-labor camps, as well as concen ...

s by bringing them to the killing centers, where they were sent to the

gas chamber A gas chamber is an apparatus for killing humans or other animals with gas, consisting of a sealed chamber into which a poisonous or asphyxiant gas is introduced. Poisonous agents used include hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide. Histor ...

s and killed.

After 1945

Vorberg fled to Spain in 1961 but was extradited back to Germany in March 1963. After a trial lasting 20 months, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for complicity in the murder of many thousands of people. There is a monument to those killed by Action T4 and Action 14f13 in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

. Designed in the shape of one of the old buses, one monument is stationary, and the other one is moved to different locations where people were killed in the T4 program."Das Denkmal der grauen Busse © Monument of the Grey Buses (Ravensburg 2006) (Berlin 2008)"
Retrieved May 23, 2010

Notes

References

Ernst Klee Ernst Klee (15 March 1942, Frankfurt – 18 May 2013, Frankfurt) was a German journalist and author. As a writer on Germany's history, he was best known for his exposure and documentation of medical crimes in Nazi Germany, much of which was concer ...

, ''"Euthanasie" im NS-Staat'', 11th edition. Fischer-Taschenbuch, Frankfurt am Main (2004) *Thomas Vormbaum (Editor), ''"Euthanasie" vor Gericht. Die Anklageschrift des Generalstaatsanwalts beim OLG Frankfurt/M. gegen Dr. Werner Heyde u. a. vom 22. Mai 1962'' Berliner Wissenschafts-Verlag, Berlin (2005) {{DEFAULTSORT:Gemeinnutzige Krankentransport GmbH Nazi Party organizations Nazi war crimes in Germany Nazi terminology Holocaust terminology Terminology of Nazi concentration camps Aktion T4

Background

After 1945

See also

Notes

References