Werner Catel (27 June 1894 – 30 April 1981), Professor of Pediatrics at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...

, was one of three doctors considered an expert on the programme of euthanasia for children and participated in 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 t ...

" euthanasia" programme for the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...

, the other two being Hans Heinze and Ernst Wentzler.

Action T4

In early 1939, a farm labourer called Richard Kretschmar requested Catel's permission to euthanise one of his children, now identified as

Gerhard Kretschmar Gerhard Herbert Kretschmar (20 February 1939 – 25 July 1939) was a German child born with severe disabilities. After receiving a petition from the child's parents, the German Führer Adolf Hitler authorized one of his personal physicians, Karl Br ...

, who had been born blind and deformed. Catel deferred the matter and suggested the father write directly to

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 ...

for permission. Hitler subsequently sent Dr.

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 ...

to confer with Catel and decide on a course of action. On July 25, 1939 the child was killed. The T4 program was influenced by a popular book, ''Allowing the destruction of life unworthy of living'', written in 1920 by

Alfred Hoche Alfred Erich Hoche (; 1 August 1865 – 16 May 1943) was a German psychiatrist known for his writings about eugenics and euthanasia. Life Hoche studied in Berlin and Heidelberg and became a psychiatrist in 1890. He moved to Strasbourg in 1891. ...

and Karl Binding. Catel, as part of this programme, was probably influenced by it too. In his 1962 publication, ''Grenzsituation des Lebens'' (Border situations of life), Catel argued for the reintroduction of euthanasia. As had Binding and Hoche, Catel identified three possible types of euthanasia. *''Reine Euthanasie'': "Real" euthanasia was seen as the killing of a person who was suffering from so much pain, that an ever-increasing amount of pain-reducing drugs had to be administered. This consequently led to the person's death. *''Euthanasie im engeren Sinne'': The killing of a patient whose illness "according to medical experience" is so bad "that there is no hope of recovery", but whose death is also not to be expected in the near future. (See

terminal sedation In medicine, specifically in end-of-life care, palliative sedation (also known as terminal sedation, continuous deep sedation, or sedation for intractable distress of a dying patient) is the palliative practice of relieving distress in a terminall ...

) *''Euthanasie im weiteren Sinne'': The "extermination of the life of an "idiot child" or an adult in a similar condition. Catel defined "idiot children" as being "such monsters ... which are nothing but a massa carnis".

Postwar career

After the war Catel took charge of the ''Mammolshöhe Children's Mental Home'' near

Kronberg Kronberg im Taunus is a town in the Hochtaunuskreis district, Hesse, Germany and part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. Before 1866, it was in the Duchy of Nassau; in that year the whole Duchy was absorbed into Prussia. Kronberg lies at t ...

, where he continued to rally for the euthanasia of children deemed beyond hope. In 1949 he was found to have committed no grave crimes by a denazification board in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, and became attached to the

University of Kiel Kiel University, officially the Christian-Albrecht University of Kiel, (german: Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in ...

in 1954. There was serious discussion after his death in 1981 of establishing a ''Werner Catel Foundation'' with $200,000 from his estate, but the idea was finally dismissed in 1984.

References

* Hans-Christian Petersen und Sönke Zankel. ''Werner Catel - ein Protagonist der NS-"Kindereuthanasie" und seine Nachkriegskarriere''. In: Medizinhistorisches Journal. Medicine and the Life Sciences in History 38 (2003), S. 139-173. * Hans-Christian Petersen und Sönke Zankel: ''"Ein exzellenter Kinderarzt, wenn man von den Euthanasie-Dingen einmal absieht." - Werner Catel und die Vergangenheitspolitik der Universität Kiel''. In: Hans-Werner Prahl u. a. (Hrsg.): Uni-Formierung des Geistes. Universität Kiel und der Nationalsozialismus. Kiel 2007, Bd. 2, S. 133-179. *

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 ...

: ''Deutsche Medizin im Dritten Reich'', S. Fischer Verlag Frankfurt/M., Oktober 2001 (Besprechung au
graswurzel.net
* Manfred Müller-Küppers: ''Die Geschichte der Kinder- und Jugendpsychiatrie unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Zeit des Nationalsozialismus'

* Ortrun Riha: ''Das schwerbehinderte Kind als ethische Verantwortung. Die Bürde der Vergangenheit als Verantwortung für die Zukunft.'' In: ''110 Jahre Universitätsklinik und Poliklinik für Kinder und Jugendliche in Leipzig''. Basel 2003, S. 17 ff. * Joachim Karl Dittrich: ''Rechtfertigungen? Betrachtungen zu drei Buchveröffentlichungen Werner Catels.'' In: 110 Jahre Universitätsklinik und Poliklinik für Kinder und Jugendliche in Leipzig. Basel 2003, S. 27 ff. * Berit Lahm, Thomas Seyde, Eberhard Ulm: ''Kindereuthanasieverbrechen in Leipzig. Verantwortung und Rezeption.'' Plöttner Verlag, Leipzig 2008, .

External links

Books by and about Catel in the German National BibliographyPage on Catel in the Faculty Catalog of the University of LeipzigBeitrag von Udo Benzenhöfer
Article by Udo Benzenhöfer (PDF, 162 kB) In: German Medical Journal, Vol 97, Issue 42, October 20, 2000

{{DEFAULTSORT:Catel, Werner 1894 births 1981 deaths Physicians in the Nazi Party German eugenicists Nazi eugenics Aktion T4 personnel

Action T4

Postwar career

See also

References

External links