Friederike Pusch (1905 – 1980)

Friederike Pusch was born the daughter of an officer in Stassfurt in 1905. After high school, she initially trained as a medical technical assistant and gained some initial professional experience, before beginning to study medicine. As a student, she joined the NSDAP in 1933. She got a job at the State Hospital Potsdam in 1935 and joined the State Hospital Brandenburg-Görden in 1938. In both facilities, she worked closely together with the director of the institution Hans Heinze, an activist of National Socialist »euthanasia«. By the end of the war, she rose to become Obermedizinalrätin (senior medical officer) with his support.

Since 1940, Friederike Pusch had been involved in research undertaken within the framework of the National Socialist patient murders and carried out at Brandenburg-Görden. Her scientific interest led her to work closely with brain researcher Julius Hallervorden from 1943 onwards. From 1942, she headed the »children's ward« at Brandenburg-Görden.

After the war, Friederike Pusch was first transferred to the Neuruppin State Hospital. She later worked at the University Psychiatric Hospital in Halle an der Saale and at the Polyclinic in Blankenburg, in the Harz region. Despite incriminating testimony, she was never prosecuted for her involvement in National Socialist »euthanasia«.