Palatine memorial for the victims of Nazi psychiatry
With great interest, many people followed the inauguration of the Palatine memorial for the victims of Nazi psychiatry at the cemetery of the "Pfalzklinikum" in Klingenmünster on April 11, 2008. With music of Dvorak, a brass ensemble of the Music High School of Frankfurt/Main put the spectators in the right mood for the great event. The president of the "Bezirkstag", Theo Wieder, could welcome many guests, among them also patients and residents, their relatives, employees of the "Pfalzklinikum", representatives of victim initiatives and interested people from the whole area of the Palatinate. The former presidents of the "Bezirkstag", Dr. Werner Ludwig and Joachim Stöckle, had come, too.
At the beginning Kurt Beck, the prime minister of Rhineland-Palatinate revealed with Volker Krebs, a Palatine sculptor, the latter’s sculpture "Between the blades" which is in the centre of attention of the newly designed memorial place. After a minute’s silence, he handed over to Rainer Anstätt, the chief executive officer of the "Pfalzklinikum", the certificate for proof as acknowledged memorial place.
In his speech, the prime minister fiercely condemned the atrocities committed during the Nazi dictatorship. However, he appreciated also the merits of the "Bezirksverband" and the "Pfalzklinikum" for having come to terms with the past in the last years. Milestones of the commemorative work which started late were the inauguration of the memorial stone in the hospital avenue in 1993 and the publishing of the book "The Mental Hospital of Klingenmünster 1933 – 1945" in 1999.
The manager of the memorial of Hadamar, Dr. Georg Lilienthal, reported an increasing number of inquiries from the generation of grandchildren for the destiny of their relatives who were taken to psychiatric hospitals during the Nazi era and where thousands of them were killed. Renate Rosenau of the Alzey workshop "Psychiatry in the era of National Socialis" asked the responsible persons who were present to enable further research and to lay the legal foundations for granting access to archives for this purpose. The medical director of the "Pfalzklinikum", Prof. Dr. Reinhard Steinberg, recalled crimes that "in their perfidious perfection" had reached "an enormity" and drew the following conclusion from it: "Our ethical principles of life have to remain that alert and consistent that such a development cannot re-establish itself in psychiatry or in other social groups bearing responsibility."
The hospital pastors Gabriele Bamberger and Joachim Geiling picked up this message by lighting an elaborately ornated candle and handing over a "stone of encouragement" to the participants upon leaving the cemetery. In difficult situations, it shall reinforce the necessity of moral courage.
In the pouring rain, a number of interested people went – past the memorial stone - to the communication centre to exchange ideas. Here they also got an opportunity to speak with the artist Volker Krebs. He emphasized that with his figure he could pick up only one facet of the complex theme and that consciously he opted for this realization: "A figure larger than life made of Palatine sandstone is standing between two 5-metre high moulds of steel. Like a pair of scissors, the metal wedges in the figure. This opposes the movement by carrying a beam-like form springing from its shoulder area between the blades. Thus, the menace is stopped and the body remains unharmed. At the first glance, one could be reminded of a crucifix. This is, however, only one deduction of the content-related interpretation. I am consciously using a known element in order to lead my message beyond it. What concerns me primarily is not that I allegorize the suffering and oppressed human being but that I point out ways how to oppose hardship and overcome it. In our concrete case, I do not understand my artistry as representation of the misery and outrages of Nazi dictatorship. The observer should take along other aspects and associations, therefore the figure’s "unafflicted" countenance."
In the next months, steles with information data as well as other design elements shall be integrated into the green spaces. Questions of content and design are discussed with interested people. Relatives of (former) patients or residents, employees, pupils of the Southern Palatinate Nursing Centre or of other neighboring schools and training centres and other interested persons are invited to actively cooperate. It is planned to perspectively expand the memorial by the installation of an information and documentation area.
On April 14, the staff council of the "Pfalzklinikum" passed a resolution in which its members committed themselves to handle history with responsibility. Together with their colleagues they want to bear this responsibility "by honouring people who lost their lives and suffered and by allowing grief" and "by being vigilant against discrimination, contempt and exclusion of people".
Here you find, in German, the speeches delivered at the inauguration as well as the resolution of the staff council.