Idstein-Kalmenhof

From October 1942 until the end of the war, several hundred victims were
October 1942 until the end of the war, several hundred victims of the Nazi "euthanasia"
were buried here. The dead were children, adolescents and adults who were murdered in the Kalmenhof,
a "sanatorium and nursing home", who were murdered through deliberate neglect or
Medication.

To deceive relatives and the public about the murders, a burial ground was created for the victims
Victims, a burial ground was laid out which was intended to have the appearance of an ordinary
Appearance of an ordinary institutional cemetery. It was located behind the former
Kalmenhof Hospital, which was used by the perpetrators as a killing center under the cover term
"children's ward" as a killing site. The
The gravesites were marked with license plates to give the impression of individual graves
The impression of individual graves. In reality, however, many graves were occupied by several
Dead.

The license plates, which were still visible in the early 1950s, were later removed
later removed. One part of the site became overgrown, while another was
Heavily remodeled by construction work. The exact location of the cemetery and its
Extent were forgotten.

The slope below the Schöne Aussicht is divided into steps. On one
Step in the middle of the slope, the Landeswohlfahrtsverband (state welfare association)
initiated a trial excavation by the Volksbund. According to the recollection of a
former resident of the Kalmenhof, who had been forced to bury those murdered,
there were supposed to be graves at this site. In fact, during the excavation
The bones of two children were discovered at a depth of 1.40 meters during the excavation.

The investigated slope step was thus proven to be part of the burial ground at the
Kalmenhof hospital and was declared a war cemetery. 1987
a memorial to the murdered was dedicated here. The total size of the cemetery
had been in total was not attempted to be determined. Information from
Witnesses suggest, however, that the cemetery extended over other areas of the slope
of the slope. The area of the war cemetery is also too small to
too small for the historically attested number of around 280 graves marked with
Graves marked with license plates could have been accommodated.

A research project commissioned by Vitos Rheingau, the current
Operating company of the Kalmenhof, was concluded in 2018 with the assumption
that the hillside area above the war cemetery contains further
"euthanasia" victims were buried. In July 2019, a
Georadar investigation in the subsoil of the areas in question revealed numerous
Anomalies, which were interpreted as traces of interventions in the ground, for example during the construction
of graves, for example, could be interpreted. However, the question was only clarified
only the excavations in the summer of 2020 brought clarification, however
intensive search, no traces of further burials were found outside the
War cemetery were found. The anomalies discovered during the georadar survey
Anomalies detected during the georadar survey proved to be natural structures in the rocky
Terrain. Further excavations at the edges of the cemetery itself are planned for 2021
itself, the overall extent of which is to be finally determined.