ABSTRACT
On 29 May 1935, just over two years after Hitler's assumption of power, the domestic servant Hedwig F. 1 and her child died in a hospital in Munich. Despite the fact that she was in the seventh or eighth month of pregnancy, two weeks earlier Munich's Hereditary Health Court had ruled that she was to be sterilized on account of schizophrenia. 2 Instead of waiting until after the birth to perform the operation, the public health officer in charge of the case not only initiated immediate compulsory sterilization but also ensured that the advanced pregnancy was “interrupted” for eugenic reasons. He based his decision on an illegal circular from the head of the Reich Medical Board to the German medical profession, made without the knowledge of the courts and the ministries. Hedwig F. haemorrhaged to death from the caesarian section undertaken to induce premature birth. Her child lived for half an hour, perhaps dying from the absence of routine natal care. For this reason, Ms. F.’s acting guardian submitted criminal charges against the participating physicians to the Munich public prosecutor's office. With the agreement of the Reich Minister of Justice the prosecutor's office halted the proceedings in January 1936. 3
