• Lee Hudson.
• Department of General and Adolescent Paediatrics, UCL Institute of Child Health, and University College London Hospital, London, UK. leehudson@fastmail.co.uk
• J Paediatr Child Health. 2011 Aug 1; 47 (8): 508-11.

AbstractAlthough they are the lesser known Nazi atrocities, it is estimated that some 5000-8000 children with physical and intellectual disabilities were killed in Nazi Germany under a programme of euthanasia. Chronologically, they were a precedent, being the Nazis' first organised and systematic killing programme that would later enlarge to include adults with disabilities and ultimately, to the broader programme of racially motivated 'euthanasia' of the holocaust. The programme intimately involved medical staff, including a number of paediatricians, many of whom would go unpunished and continue to practice for many years after the war. This paper outlines the origins and development of the programme, examines how families were involved and affected and looks at what motivated the medical staff involved with the killing. The history of the Nazi child euthanasia programme has a number of important lessons for practicing doctors and health policy-makers in the 21st century.© 2011 The Author. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health © 2011 Paediatrics and Child Health Division (Royal Australasian College of Physicians).

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