Werner B. (1925 – 1940)

Werner was born the son of a Reichswehr soldier in Potsdam in 1925 and grew up with his parents and older brother. He was still a child when he suffered his first seizure. He later had further seizures, which led him to being admitted to Potsdam State Hospital in 1932.

The doctors assumed he had suffered brain damage as a result of whooping cough. Werner first attended the hospital's auxiliary school, later the practically oriented »School of Life«. But he could not fulfil the tasks set there. His family remained in close contact with him and he regularly spent Christmas at home.

In general, Werner was said to be childlike and sociable. From 1938, however, he was often described as excitable and confrontational. An intelligence test carried out in October 1940 revealed that the now 15-year-old failed to carry out tasks that nine-year-olds should be able to perform.

His death was probably already decided at this point: because of the epilepsy he had acquired, he was an interesting research object for doctors. On 28 October 1940, Werner was murdered in the T4 killing centre in Brandenburg. His brain was removed so that it could be examined in the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Brain Research in Berlin-Buch.