Citation

Benedict S. Issues Ment. Health Nurs. 2003; 24(1): 59-79.

Affiliation

College of Nursing, Medical University of South Carolina, 99 Jonathan Lucas Street, Charleston, SC 29425, USA. benedics@musc.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2003, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

12735075

Abstract

This research was conducted to examine the participation of nurses in the euthanasia program as it existed in the time of National Socialism in Germany and to describe the participation of nurses at one of the six killing centers, Hadamar, located near Frankfurt, Germany. Over 10,000 mentally and physically handicapped patients were killed by nurses as a part of the euthanasia programs, with over 100,000 being killed in all. Factors influencing the nurses' willingness to kill are described and include the socialization of the German people toward euthanasia as well as ideological commitment, economic factors, and putative duress.

Language: en