IN PROGRESS

A Son Tells His Mother’s Story...

Mrs. Rosa Schillings was a young mother of two who was murdered at Hadamar in 1941.  I interviewed her son, who told her tragic story: She had reluctantly uprooted her two young children to live in India at the insistence of her husband, who wanted to mine in that destination.  He was killed in an accident shortly after and she was left to care for her children alone. Upon returning to Germany, she had very little family support. About a year later, her young daughter died of an illness.  Gradually, Mrs. Schillings succumbed to depression and was sent to a mental health institution.  That was the last her family saw of her.  A fake death certificate was issued stating she had died of “leukemia.”  Years later, the family finally learned that she had been gassed at the Hadamar Mental Institution.

A Daughter Speaks of Her Father’s Fate….

Mrs. Geckeler, was a child when her father was murdered at Hadamar.  Her father began to “forget” how to do things and was placed in a mental health facility.  Her mother took the family to Austria and when they returned a few years later, was told her husband had died of natural causes.  Mrs. Geckeler researched for years to find out the truth of her father’s fate. She eventually learned that he was gassed at Hadamar the very day he was transported there.  Mrs. Geckeler has a contract with a German publishing house to tell her father’s story in a book and has been quite vocal about the need for a memorial for the T4 victims.   

Among those buried on the grounds of Hadamar were 40 children, who were in a separate grave from that of the adult victims.  This photo shows the site of the children’s burial ground. The white stones were placed by modern day children as part of a memorial project.