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Emma Lina Schulz
© Privatbesitz

Emma Lina Schulz (née Kirstein) * 1902

Dieselstraße 22 (Hamburg-Nord, Barmbek-Nord)

HIER WOHNTE
EMMA LINA SCHULZ
GEB. KIRSTEIN
JG. 1902
EINGEWIESEN 1941
HEILANSTALT LANGENHORN
"VERLEGT" 24.3.1942
HEILANSTALT KÖNIGSLUTTER
ERMORDET 6.8.1942

Emma Lina Schulz, née Kirstein, born on 22 Dec. 1902 in Lehrte, "transferred” from the Hamburg-Langenhorn "sanatorium and nursing home” ("Heil- und Pflegeanstalt " Hamburg-Langenhorn) on 24 Mar. 1942 to the "sanatorium and nursing home” in Königslutter/Elm, died on 6 Aug. 1942.

Dieselstrasse 22 (Barmbek-Nord)

Emma Lina Schulz was born on 22 Dec. 1902, the daughter of Friedrich and Mathilde Kirstein. She had eight siblings, as she reported to the Langenhorn State Hospital (Staatskrankenanstalt Langenhorn). We know nothing about her childhood and youth.

On 1 Mar. 1924, she married in Lehrte Rudolf Schulz, born in Braunschweig on 28 Aug. 1900. Emma Lina Schulz’ husband was working as a plumber at the time of the wedding, and later rose to the position of supervisor at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg.

We do not know when Mr. and Mrs. Schulz settled in Hamburg or where they initially lived. Rudolf Schulz was first listed in the 1940 edition of the Hamburg directory as residing at Dieselstrasse 22 in Barmbek-Nord. New residential buildings had been erected there shortly before.

In Hamburg, Emma Lina Schulz gave birth to a child who died at birth. The time of the delivery is not known. This stroke of fate probably triggered serious psychological consequences for her.

Emma Lina Schulz suffered from epileptic seizures starting around May 1935, which occurred at intervals of four to six weeks. Due to this illness, Emma Lina Schulz was reportedly sterilized. With the "Law for the Prevention of Offspring with Hereditary Diseases” ("Gesetz zur Verhütung erbkranken Nachwuchses”), which came into force on 1 Jan. 1934, the Nazis had enacted the legal basis for the forced "sterilization” of alleged "congenitally ill persons” and "alcoholics” (RGBl. [Reich Law Gazette] I 1934 p. 529).

On 12 Sept. 1940, Emma Lina Schulz was admitted to St. Georg General Hospital. She had fallen or jumped out of the second-floor window of her apartment building after an argument with her husband, breaking her left arm. Because of "confusion,” strong agitation, and the expression of suicidal intentions, she was transferred from there to the Friedrichsberg State Hospital (Staatskrankenanstalt Friedrichsberg) on 14 Sept. 1940. There, she was initially described as "friendly and orderly, contented.” Later, she appeared to the caretakers as "disruptive, at times suicidal,” with the consequence of her being transferred to the Hamburg-Langenhorn "sanatorium and nursing home” on 19 Dec. 1941.

Shortly thereafter, on 6 Feb. 1942, Emma Lina Schulz was further transferred, specifically to the Lüneburg "sanatorium and nursing home.” After her husband had gained the impression during a visit that his wife’s condition had improved considerably, he took her home on 28 Feb. 1942. Shortly thereafter, however, on 3 Mar. 1942, he returned her to the Langenhorn "sanatorium and nursing home” on the grounds that Emma Lina Schulz had smashed windows at home.

On 24 Mar. 1942, a transport of 14 women left the Langenhorn institution for the Königslutter/Elm "sanatorium and nursing home.” Among them was Emma Lina Schulz.

In Königslutter, she was described during the following months as often restless and loud, but at times also as calm and accessible. Entries in Emma Lina Schulz’ patient file indicate that she was often given the barbiturate Phenobarbital (Luminal). Whether this drug, which was used to murder children with disabilities in the "children’s special wards” ("Kinderfachabteilungen”), also resulted in her death cannot be judged based on the entries in the files.

The following entry can be found in Emma Lina Schulz’ patient file for 6 Aug. 1942: "Essentially unchanged, mainly agitated, hallucinating, in between sometimes quite [...] properly structured. In the last few days, increasing agitation (to the point of screaming), no more food intake, acute [...]. Today, exitus.”

Emma Lina Schulz died on 6 Aug. 1942 in Königslutter at the age of 39.

Translator: Erwin Fink
Kindly supported by the Hermann Reemtsma Stiftung, Hamburg.

Stand: May 2021
© Ingo Wille

Quellen: Standesamt Lehrte Nr. 205/1902, Geburtsurkunde Emma Lina Kirstein, Nr. 6/1924, Heiratsurkunde Rudolf Schulz und Emma Lina Kirstein; Standesamt Königslutter Nr. 159/1942, Sterbeurkunde Emma Lina Schulz; Patientenakte Emma Lina Schulz Landesarchiv Wolfenbüttel; Patientenakte Emma Lina Schulz Niedersächsisches Landesarchiv Hannover.