Remembrance Day in Brandenburg: Vigil for the victims of the euthanasia murders

Remembrance Day in Brandenburg: Vigil for the victims of the euthanasia murders

On September 1, 2025, the dark history of euthanasia murders will be remembered in Brandenburg an der Havel. On the occasion of this memorial day, a memorial event with wreath-laying will take place at 10:00 a.m. at the memorial for the victims of the euthanasia murders on Nicolaiplatz. The event marks the 86th anniversary of Adolf Hitler's “mercy death” decree, which authorized the systematic killing of people deemed “unworthy of life.” According to estimates, up to 300,000 people from healing and care facilities were murdered, including more than 9,000 in Brandenburg an der Havel, as stadt-brandenburg.de reports.

The commemoration promises to be a moving and important event. Speakers on this day will be Lisa Quaeschning, the deputy director of the memorial, Steffen Scheller, the mayor of Brandenburg an der Havel, and Prof. Dr. Hans-Uwe Simon, President of the Brandenburg Medical School. After the wreath-laying ceremony, an exhibition will also open showing artistic works by students from the medical school. This exhibition addresses the crimes of euthanasia and will be on display at the memorial until March 1, 2026.

Review of previous commemorative events

Nicolaiplatz has already served as a place of remembrance in the past. For example, a memorial event was held on September 1, 2019, with over 80 participants laying wreaths. In the speeches of Dr. Sylvia de Pasquale, the director of the memorial at the time, and Mayor Steffen Scheller discussed the connection between the Nazi crimes and the attack on Poland, which also celebrated its anniversary on this day. At that time, Dr. habil. Tadeusz Nasierowski, a Polish scientist, gave a moving memorial speech, as documented by stiftung-bg.de.

The memorial on Nicolaiplatz, where the foundations of an institution barn and a gas chamber used to be, is a memorial to the more than 9,000 victims in the region and is a vivid reminder of the atrocities of the Nazi regime.

Other memorial sites and their significance

There are also important places of remembrance outside of Brandenburg. The memorial and information center for the victims of the National Socialist “euthanasia” murders, located on Berlin’s Tiergartenstrasse, is a central location that commemorates the murders that were organized by the “Central Service T4”. From 1939 to 1945, this office was significantly involved in the systematic murder of patients from sanatoriums and nursing homes. The memorial was opened in 2014 and is close to other memorials to Nazi victims, such as the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. The administration is carried out by the Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe Foundation, which underlines the importance and commitment to the culture of remembrance, as Wikipedia emphasizes.

The upcoming memorial event on September 1st provides space not only for commemoration, but also for reflection on the lessons of the past. It is essential that we do not forget the voices of victims.