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Luise Schulz
© Archiv Evangelische Stiftung Alsterdorf

Luise Schulz * 1938

Weidestraße 121 (Hamburg-Nord, Barmbek-Süd)

HIER WOHNTE
LUISE SCHULZ
JG. 1938
EINGEWIESEN 1940
ALSTERDORFER ANSTALTEN
"VERLEGT" 1943
HEILANSTALT EICHBERG
ERMORDET 24.9.1943

Luise Schulz, born on 4 Sept. 1938 in Hamburg, "transferred” on 7 Aug. 1943 from what was then the Alsterdorf Asylum (Alsterdorfer Anstalten) to the "Eichberg Sanatorium and Nursing Home” ("Heil- und Pflegeanstalt Eichberg”), died on 24 Sept. 1943

Weidestrasse 121 (Barmbek-Süd)

Luise Schulz was born Luise Grünitz on 4 Sept. 1938 in the Barmbek General Hospital. Her mother, still unaware of her pregnancy, had been admitted there by the police authorities for treatment of her sexually transmitted disease. She stayed until she gave birth and she was discharged in November. Luise, on the other hand, had to be hospitalized for another seven months; she had contracted gonorrhea at birth.

Luise’s mother Frieda Grünitz, née Orzechowski, born on 7 Dec. 1916, had already left her husband in Oststeinbek before Luise was born; the divorce apparently took place in Lübeck on 22 Aug. 1938.

Fritz John Grünitz, born on 17 Nov. 1914, Frieda Grünitz’ divorced husband, worked as a painter. He bore his mother’s last name of Grünitz, since his parents were not yet married when he was born. Later, the name changed from Grünitz to Schulz. This name change then also applied to Luise, and starting in Mar. 1942, her last name was Schulz.

Fritz Grünitz/Schulz, however, did not acknowledge paternity. The Hamburg District Court (Amtsgericht) ordered that he be "deprived of all parental authority over the child.” The Hamburg Youth Welfare Office was appointed guardian.

Since Luise could not stay with her mother because, as contemporary diction had it, her mother’s "reputation” was bad, she was sent from the hospital to the children’s home at Winterhuder Weg 11 following recovery. Her older brother Alfred, born on 18 Aug. 1937, had also been in public care since Dec. 1937.

In the following years, Luise’s mother was apparently under the supervision of the public health authorities, who had her committed to the "sexually ill ward” of the Langenhorn "sanatorium and nursing home” (Langenhorn "Heil- und Pflegeanstalt”) from 5 Jan. to 14 Feb. 1940. After her discharge, she reportedly was in police custody until 14 May 1940, probably because of a violation of conditions imposed by the health authorities. She was again committed to Langenhorn on 21 Jan. 1941, and she remained there until 5 Mar. 1941. Yet another period of police custody followed, until 1 Aug. 1941. Her last noted address was in Barmbek, at Weidestrasse 121, as a subtenant with Timmermann. After that, she had reportedly moved away to an unknown destination.

On 11 Jan. 1940, at the instigation of the Hamburg Youth Welfare Office, Luise was examined by a senior physician for psychiatry and neurology by the name of Flothmann, because, according to a report from the infants’ home, she "took only mashed food, ate poorly, and cried a lot without cause.” The doctor found Luise to be mentally unresponsive; although she reacted to sounds and light impressions, she was immediately distracted again. She also cried a lot during the examination. His assessment was, "Feebleminded child due to brain damage. The cause of the brain damage has not been clearly established.”

After a further assessment by the medical officer of the infants’ home, Otto Hulsemann, Luise was sent to the then Alsterdorf Asylum (Alsterdorfer Anstalten; today Evangelische Stiftung Alsterdorf) on 6 May 1940 with the diagnosis of "imbecility” ("feeble-mindedness”) at the expense of the social administration of the Hanseatic City of Hamburg.

In Alsterdorf, Luise was initially placed in the "observation room” ("Wachsaal”). The nursing staff noticed, "that she was very well-groomed and clean on her body as well as her underwear.” [...] "Pat.[ient] was quiet, reacted to nothing. Appetite is poor, eats only with difficulty.”

Luise was regarded in Alsterdorf as a "full-scale ward,” i.e., she was considered requiring care in every respect. According to the information in her patient file, at a year and three quarters of age, she could not yet stand, slept a lot, and cried incessantly while bathing, feeding, and changing. Reportedly, she anxiously turned away when people tried to engage with her. Unobserved, however, she was able to play happily with her legs and fingers.

On 18 Sept. 1942 – Luise was four years old by then – nursing staff noted in her medical record: "Pat[ient] must be dressed and undressed and is fed with porridge. During the day, she must be kept dry. She does not speak, cries a lot, can walk a little with help. She likes to gnaw on her bed and wooden chairs. She is a timid, shy child, does not recognize her surroundings.”

During the heavy air raids on Hamburg in June/Aug. 1943 ("Operation Gomorrah”), parts of the Alsterdorf Asylum were also destroyed. Pastor Friedrich Lensch, then director of the Alsterdorf Asylum, decided in coordination with the Hamburg public health authorities to transfer patients to other sanatoriums and nursing homes. On 6 Aug. 1943, Gerhard Kreyenberg, the senior physician in charge, made a handwritten note in Luise’s medical record: "Transferred because the Alsterdorf Asylum destroyed.”

Luise Schulz was one of 28 Alsterdorf children transported to the "Eichberg State Sanatorium and Nursing Home” ("Landes-Heil- und Pflegeanstalt Eichberg”) in Hessen on 7 Aug. 1943. The institution served as a transit facility for the nearby Hadamar "euthanasia” killing center and had been given a "children’s special ward” ("Kinderfachabteilung”) as part of the "euthanasia program” in 1940/1941.

The term "children’s special ward” was used as a euphemism for special psychiatric facilities in hospitals as well as in sanatoriums and nursing homes that were used for "child euthanasia,” i.e., the research on and killing of children and adolescents who were severely disabled physically or mentally.

All but one of the Hamburg children were taken directly to this department upon arrival, where they were killed soon after by morphine or Phenobarbital (Luminal).

Luise Schulz died at 1 p.m. on 24 Sept. 1943. The cause of death reported to the Erbach registry office was "cardiac insufficiency due to idiocy,” as were the deaths on the same day of at least four other Hamburg children from Alsterdorf.

The Stolperstein for Luise Schulz was laid at Weidestrasse 121.

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

Stand: May 2021
© Susanne Rosendahl

Quellen: StaH 332-5 Standesämter 2448 Nr. 35/1897 Geburtsregistereintrag Ernst Grünitz; StaH 332-5 Standesämter 3293 Nr. 304/1916; StaH 332-5 Standesämter 3361 Nr. 23/1919; Evangelische Stiftung Alsterdorf, Archiv, Sonderakte 20, Luise Schulz; Michael Wunder, Ingrid Genkel, Harald Jenner, Auf dieser schiefen Ebene gibt es kein Halten mehr. Die Alsterdorfer Anstalten im Nationalsozialismus, 2. Aufl. Hamburg 1988.