Sterilization of deaf people in Nazi Germany

During the era of National Socialism in Germany the discrimination towards the "Hereditarly Diseased" was at its peak. Racial hygiene was a big concern and the intent to fix it made Germany take extreme measures. The hearing impaired and the all the disabled were considered a "social burden" Germany's main solution to decrease the numbers was through sterilization.

More than one hundred female sterilizations were known by the 1930s. Sterilization procedures were done by two common ways: through the vagina or Laparotomy. The incision through the vagina was very unreliable, therefore hardly ever practiced. Laparotomy is surgical procedure through the abdominal cavity which was the most "successful" in the future infertility of the woman. When the abdominal cavity was opened the ways of sterilization were by crushing or removing the Fallopian tubes, but the most "successful" method was by removing the uterus, which surgeons often opted for. All of these savage procedures were done with little or no anesthetics. Some old/simple methods were removal of the tubes, but because of the high failure rate it was not commonly practiced. "the sterilization offered surgeons and gynecologists a broad field for experimentation on human subjects in order to test new operational procedures." Another simple but dangerous procedure was sterilization by x-ray. In the end the choice of operation was left in the hands of the surgeon. "with a heavy heart, I let myself be sterilized again. But this was much worse than the first time. My stomach was cut up horribly. For the first sterilization, the incision was horizontal but the second time they made a long vertical cut in my belly. I've often had a rupture when i got up during the night when I was upset. It just bursts."

The physical effects of sterilization in the early twentieth century in Nazi Germany were less than desirable, to say the least. Because Nazi doctors often operated on people with little to no anesthesia, patients experienced extreme amounts of pain during and after the operation. Furthermore, studies show that the patients experienced intense physical effects of the operation decades after the procedure had taken place. Horst Biesold, teacher of deaf students and author of Crying Hands, interviewed and surveyed multiple deaf survivors of such sterilizations. In this excerpt of Crying Hands, an interviewee born in 1918 describes the physical effects of her own sterilization:

"I was forcibly sterilized by the Nazis in July 1938. It was extremely painful torture…I suffered terrible pain…Throughout my marriage with a deaf husband I have had pains as a result of the operation. Even today the pains are often very intense…While other women have orgasms and experience the joy of lovemaking, the pain from the operation scars kills all pleasure for me."

Other accounts include a man who suffered for years with heart problems, a woman who had become deathly ill, and another man who only experienced pain during sexual intercourse as a result of the sterilization.

Of the 1,215 people that Biesold interviewed, 601 (49.47%) people responded "yes" when asked if they still suffer from physical pain as a result of the operation. Of those 601 people, 258 (52.54%) of them reported the pain to be located in their abdomen, specifically in the "groin, testicles, and lumbar region."

Being forcibly sterilized cause a lot of emotional damages for the deaf victims in Nazi Germany. Personal statements of victims in Crying Hands mention they felt a lot of grief because they couldn't have children, and heartache because her fiance backed out of marriage because she could no longer have children. Forcibly sterilized deaf were admitted to neurological clinics and similar institutions. Also because the burden of suffering was so great that it led to suicide. When asked if they still suffer from psychological pain, out of the 1215 asked 928 (78.38%) said yes, 49 (4.03%) said no, and 238 (19.59%) had no response.

Emotional effects on young people forcibly sterilized were greater than adults. Male victims between ages 13–18 were 12% more likely to report mental suffering than older male victims. In women ages 13–18 were 9% more likely. Disruptions in adaptation and development among young victims and produced depression due to uprooting. Severe depression, attempted suicide and awareness that their entire lives could have been different were mentioned as consequences of the condition of young victims of sterilization. When they were asked "Do you still suffer from psychological pain?" "Are you often sad?" and "Do you feel lonely without children?" Men answered: 172 (85.15%) said yes, 3 (1.49%) said no, and 27 (13.37%) had no response. Women answered: 195 (84.42%) said yes, 3 (1.30%) said no, and 33 (14.29%) had no response.

See also

• Deaf People in Hitler's Europe
• Nazi eugenics
• Psychological effects of sterilization and forced abortions on Deaf Germans during World War II