Stumbling block for Hermann Strott

Hermann Strott is one of the 15,000 victims of euthanasia who were murdered in the so-called sanatorium in Hadamar between 1941 and 1945 due to mental and physical disabilities.

He was born on June 6, 1912 in Offenbach. His parents were the carpenter Martin and Elisabeth Strott, born in Offenbach. According to his own statements, he was healthy, albeit weak, during his childhood and school years and was never interested in sports or noisy activities, but mostly withdrew into the world of books. After graduating from the Oberrealschule in Offenbach, he consequently began studying philology in Frankfurt in 1931.

Uncertainty about his studies and fears about the future led to a breakdown in 1933 and a subsequent stay in hospital lasting several months. After being discharged, he gave up his studies and began working for the labor service in Heppenheim in 1934 without any health problems.

In November 1934, he began his military service in Regensburg, but was discharged again in June 1935. The reason for this was the decision of the "hereditary health court" in Regensburg, which ordered Hermann Strott's sterilization. No justification for this serious intervention can be found anywhere in later files.

Presumably, this was based on the Nazi law on the "prevention of hereditary diseases" of July 14, 1933 - although later files show that H. Strott was only diagnosed with a temporary mental illness and that his relatives were not mentally ill. According to his own statement, he suffered greatly from this intervention.

Hermann Strott remained employed by the army administration in Regensburg until the end of 1939. In 1940, he returned to Offenbach and worked there as a commercial clerk until 1941, most recently in the office of an armaments company, which took its toll on his health. After a short stay in hospital, he was discharged as fit for work and immediately conscripted for service. Probably because of his knowledge of French, he worked in the office of the Luftgaukommando in Paris.

After three months, he left this job due to illness and took a job in Wiesbaden in 1942. Due to increasing psychological difficulties, he was admitted to the Frankfurt mental hospital in July 1943. From there, he was transferred to the "Weilmünster sanatorium" in October.

In accordance with a directive from the Nazi headquarters in Berlin at Tiergartenstraße 4 (T4), the patients in Weilmünster were weakened by starvation diets in order to systematically reduce the number of mentally ill and physically disabled patients.

Despite his interest in working, Hermann Strott remained in the clinic, from October 1943 without any therapy or employment. In August 1944, at the request of the company health insurance fund, the clinic management issued a medical report stating that an improvement in his condition was possible, but that ultimately no cure could be achieved. However, it was highly unlikely that he would be able to work again.

The file from September 1944 contains the entry that Hermann Strott was suffering from pleurisy. On October 13, it says: "Transferred to Hadamar".

The parents were only informed of their son's condition and the transfer afterwards. The father urgently asked the management for information about his son's state of health, but received no reply. Hermann's father did not visit the clinic in December 1944 as he had wished because of constant air raids.

On January 4, 1945, the clinic management telegraphed to his father that his son was seriously ill and his condition had deteriorated to a life-threatening level. A visit was permitted. However, the telegram did not arrive.

On January 5, 1945, the registry office of the Hadamar State Sanatorium certified Hermann Strott's death. The parents received the news of their son's death on January 12, 1945.

It can be assumed that Hermann Strott did not die of natural causes - the death certificate lists a frequently mentioned diagnosis, namely "mental illness, cardiac insufficiency, pleurisy".

Hermann Strott was probably murdered with an overdose of medication. Because, convinced by the Nazi ideology and its "extermination of life unworthy of life" as well as the idea of "mercy killing", most of the nurses and carers in Hadamar followed the senior physician's instructions without contradiction. They obediently administered a lethal dose of poison to the sick people who were no longer able to work.

Surprised by the sudden death of his son, the father asked for more information about the cause of death, the type of burial and the location of the grave. On January 17, 1945, he received the following message:
"Your son was unable to recover from the illness. A weak heart brought about his death; he died quietly without agony. The burial took place quietly in our institutional cemetery."

Hermann Strott was buried with other euthanasia victims in a mass grave. In February 1945, the parents received the clothes of their deceased son on request, for which they politely thanked him, unaware of the murderous events in Hadamar.