Euthanasia in National Socialism-Investigations on three skeletons from the war cemetery Idstein-Kalmenhof (Hesse)

Background: The Kalmenhof was founded in 1888 by the Society for the Idstein Idiots Institution (Verein fur die Idiotenanstalt zu Idstein). During the Nazi era, hundreds of children and adolescents were killed by doctors and nurses in the children's department (Kinderfachabteilung).Material and methods: After both a historical survey and ground-penetrating radar yielded indications for the existence of graves located outside of the area designated as a war cemetery, excavations were conducted in the summer of 2020.Results: No graves were found outside the war gravesite. Within the area, a collective burial site of three individuals was discovered in a pit measuring 160 x 65 cm. The bony remains were exhumed and examined macroscopically, radiologically, toxicologically, and by molecular biology. Two individuals were male; the age of death was approximately 2.0 to 2.25 years and 2.5 years, respectively. The third individual was a female juvenile; examination of her remains revealed evidence of repeated and prolonged periods of insufficient supply of nutrients. No signs of physical disability, pre- or perimortem injuries were found on any of the individuals. The toxicological examinations were negative for all individuals. For the two infant skeletons a complete STR profile could be established, for the juvenile skeleton only a sex determination was possible.Discussion: The results support historical information according to which there were collective burial grounds. In contrast, a subdivision of the cemetery according to the age at death was not verified, nor was the supposition that there were graves on adjacent territories. Based on the findings, a concrete suspicion of the identity of the three individuals was established. The skeletal remains were reinterred at a memorial service on the German national people's day of mourning (Volkstrauertag) in 2020.

Automated summary

Excavations at Kalmenhof revealed a collective burial site consisting of two male infants and one female juvenile. There was no evidence of age-based cemetery subdivisions or graves on adjacent territories. The identity of the individuals was determined through examinations. The skeletal remains were reinterred in 2020.