Irmgard Huber
Encyclopedia
Irmgard Huber was the head nurse of Germany
's Hadamar Clinic
, a major center of the Action T4
euthanasia
program in Nazi Germany
. She was convicted of war crimes in 1947.
When American forces occupied the small German town of Hadamar
, they heard rumors about the murder of the mentally ill at a local psychiatric hospital. Hadamar had been one of six major "euthanasia" facilities in Nazi Germany that claimed the lives of some 200,000 Germans. Since these were crimes committed by Germans against their fellow citizens within the borders of their own country, the murders at Hadamar were not classified as war crimes, and therefore offered no legal basis for trial by American forces. However, hospital records revealed that 476 forced laborers from Poland
and the Soviet Union
—Allied countries
—had also perished at Hadamar, and these crimes did fall under international jurisdiction
.
Irmgard Huber, head nurse of the hospital, was among the staff arrested by the Americans. Her claims that she never killed patients were corroborated by co-workers and witnesses and she was released. Later, the court ruled that Huber had indeed played a role in selecting patients for murder and in falsifying death certificates. She also controlled the supply of drugs used to overdose patients. Huber was rearrested, tried with six others, and received twenty-five years in prison for serving as an accomplice to murder. As the only female defendant, she received the lightest sentence at the trial. Chief administrator, Alfons Klein, and two male nurses, Heinrich Ruoff and Karl Willig, received death sentences, and chief physician, Adolf Wahlmann, received a life sentence (commuted). Two other members of the administrative staff received sentences of 20 to 35 years.
Huber was also among twenty-five members of the Hadamar staff tried at a German-convened Hadamar trial, empowered to try German nationals. As accomplice to murder in at least 120 cases, Huber was sentenced to eight additional years in prison.
Irmgard Huber was released from prison in 1952.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
's Hadamar Clinic
Hadamar Clinic
The Hadamar Euthanasia Centre was a psychiatric hospital in the German town of Hadamar, used by the Nazis as the site of their T-4 Euthanasia Programme, which performed mass sterilizations and mass murder of "undesirable" members of Nazi society, specifically those with physical and mental...
, a major center of the Action T4
Action T4
Action T4 was the name used after World War II for Nazi Germany's eugenics-based "euthanasia" program during which physicians killed thousands of people who were "judged incurably sick, by critical medical examination"...
euthanasia
Euthanasia
Euthanasia refers to the practice of intentionally ending a life in order to relieve pain and suffering....
program in Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. She was convicted of war crimes in 1947.
When American forces occupied the small German town of Hadamar
Hadamar
Hadamar is a small town in Limburg-Weilburg district in Hesse, Germany.Hadamar is known for its Clinic for Forensic Psychiatry/Centre for Social Psychiatry, lying at the edge of town, in whose outlying buildings is also found the Hadamar Memorial...
, they heard rumors about the murder of the mentally ill at a local psychiatric hospital. Hadamar had been one of six major "euthanasia" facilities in Nazi Germany that claimed the lives of some 200,000 Germans. Since these were crimes committed by Germans against their fellow citizens within the borders of their own country, the murders at Hadamar were not classified as war crimes, and therefore offered no legal basis for trial by American forces. However, hospital records revealed that 476 forced laborers from Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
—Allied countries
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
—had also perished at Hadamar, and these crimes did fall under international jurisdiction
International law
Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...
.
Irmgard Huber, head nurse of the hospital, was among the staff arrested by the Americans. Her claims that she never killed patients were corroborated by co-workers and witnesses and she was released. Later, the court ruled that Huber had indeed played a role in selecting patients for murder and in falsifying death certificates. She also controlled the supply of drugs used to overdose patients. Huber was rearrested, tried with six others, and received twenty-five years in prison for serving as an accomplice to murder. As the only female defendant, she received the lightest sentence at the trial. Chief administrator, Alfons Klein, and two male nurses, Heinrich Ruoff and Karl Willig, received death sentences, and chief physician, Adolf Wahlmann, received a life sentence (commuted). Two other members of the administrative staff received sentences of 20 to 35 years.
Huber was also among twenty-five members of the Hadamar staff tried at a German-convened Hadamar trial, empowered to try German nationals. As accomplice to murder in at least 120 cases, Huber was sentenced to eight additional years in prison.
Irmgard Huber was released from prison in 1952.
External links
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum - Irmgard Huber