Just three days after the formal end of Action T4, a lorry arrived at Hartheim with 70 Jewish inmates from Mauthausen concentration camp. The inmates were killed at Hartheim. The Hartheim killing centre achieved a special reputation, because it was where the largest number of patients, and the most concentration prisoners, were gassed. Their numbers are estimated at 12,000.
Prisoners at Mauthausen who were no longer able to work, especially in the quarries, and "politically undesirable" prisoners were brought to Hartheim to be executed. These victims included:
From 1944 on, T4 doctors no longer picked out sick, elderly, or disabled prisoners to be killed. Instead, the Nazis' new goal was to to free up space in the Mauthausen camp quickly, so they would send groups of women to Hartheim to be killed. Other transports came from the concentration camp of Gusen, and probably also from Ravensbrück, during 1944. These transports were made most of women with tuberculosis and women who had been labeled mentally ill.
Adolf Hitler's order from 1 September 1939 approving the start of the T4 Programme only mentioned doctors. Because of this, the Action T4 organisers, Viktor Brack and Karl Brandt, ordered that only medical doctors could execute sick patients. Doctors controlled the poison gas in the euthanasia centres. Many doctors used fake names in records about the people they killed.
From 1940 to 1945, Rudolf Lonauer was the head doctor at Hartheim, and Georg Renno was the Deputy head doctor.
The Action T4 Euthanasia Centres had temporary holding stations for victims. For example, many trucks carrying victims to Hartheim would stop at the Niedernhart Mental Institute in Linz, where Rudolf Lonauer was the senior doctor, as he was at Hartheim. At Niedernhart, victims were mainly killed by starvation or medical overdose (by giving deadly amounts of medicine). Patients would be put into categories. Some would be chosen and taken to Hartheim to be killed.
The Nazis thought that many different groups of people, but especially people with disabilities, were "life unworthy of life." They killed children and adults in their Euthanasia Centers. These victims included:
Almost 350 priests were killed at Hartheim. These victims included 310 Polish priests, seven Germans, six Czechs, four Luxemburgians, three Dutch, and two Belgians. Many of them were taken from the Priest's Block in Dachau concentration camp.
Dachau's chaplain, Hermann Scheipers, was also moved to the camp's invalid's block, so he could be taken to Hartheim as well. Scheipers' sister—who had kept in touch with Schiepers by mail—tracked down Dr. Bernsdorf, who was in charge of the clergy imprisoned in the Priest's Block. She told him that, in Münsterland, many people knew that imprisoned priests were sent to the gas chambers. After the conversation, Bernsdorf telephoned the commandant's office at Dachau. Scheipers reported that on that same day, 13 August 1942, he and three other German clergymen were saved from being sent to Hartheim. They were moved from the invalid's block, where the "Schutzstaffel" (SS) sent prisoners when they were going to be sent to another camp. The four clergymen were sent back to the priest's block.
Gunshot residue
Gunshot residue (GSR) is one of the results of firing a gun. When a bullet leaves the barrel of a firearm, it is accompanied by gases that include both burned and unburned particles of gunpowder. It also includes traces of metal from the firearm, the ammunition and the primer including the signature components of gunshot residue: lead, barium and antimony. GSR is usually found on the skin and clothing of the person who fired the gun. It may also be found in the entrance wound of the victim. This depends on how close the victim was to the gun when it was fired.
When a gun is fired, a plume of gas—including GSR particles—is ejected from the barrel and any other openings in the gun. The gunshot residue is deposited on objects that are close to the fired gun including the gun itself.
Crime scene specialists collect GSR from people and objects when there is reason to believe it may be there. The collected samples are then taken to a laboratory where they are examined. Forensic scientists can also use GSR residue to determine the distance between the barrel of the fired weapon and the target. The farther from the weapon the less the gunshot residue. Collection of GSR is time sensitive in many cases. After 4 to 8 hours it may wear off people's hands. It can remain for longer periods on a dead body or other objects. A number of advancements have been made in gunshot residue examinations in recent years. One improvement is in the use of scanning electron microscopes.
Recently, a test for finding GSR when the ammunition used was "green" or lead-free. In the past lead was required to be in the sample to identify it as GSR. Now a new test can identify GSR as small as a single particle.
In addition to the person who fired a weapon, finding GSR can show:
GSR may not be present for a number of reasons:
Essential medicines
The list of essential medicines is a listing of drugs compiled by the WHO. The list contains a number of drugs, which cover the basic needs of a society. The drugs on the list should be easy to get, and affordable. The list was first published in 1977. It is reviewed every two years. In 2003, 156 countries have joined the effort. As of 2016, over 300 different drugs and vaccines are on the list. About 95 percent of the drugs and substances on the list are not covered by patents, which means that generic drugs using the substance indicated can be produced easily.
There are two major problems with the list: First, there are a number of diseases which mainly occur in developing countries. Many people there cannot afford to pay high prices for drugs, which means pharmaceutical companies are not interested in developing new drugs for such diseases. Examples for such diseases are malaria or tuberculosis. The second problem is that certain drugs on the list are patented, and they are often expensive. Examples for the second kind of drugs are those used to treat AIDS.
According to a study done by the world bank, about a third of the world's population does not have access to these drugs,
Berkshire County, Massachusetts
Berkshire County is a county in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. As of the 2010 Census, the county had a population of 131,219. The county seat and largest city is Pittsfield.
Rogerson, Idaho
Rogerson is an unincorporated community in Twin Falls County, Idaho, United States. Rogerson is part of the Twin Falls, Idaho Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease
Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (pronounced ) or CJD is a neurological disease. It is degenerative (it gets worse over time); it cannot be cured, and it always causes death. CJD is sometimes called a human form of "mad cow disease" (bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE). BSE is actually a cause of one rare type of Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease; the two are not the same disease.
CJD is caused by an infectious agent called a prion. Prions are proteins that are folded wrong. Prions make copies of themselves by changing correctly folded proteins into misfolded shapes. CJD causes brain tissue to become unhealthy very quickly. As the disease destroys the brain, the brain develops holes. The brain's texture changes and becomes like a kitchen sponge.
Types of CJD include:
The first symptom of CJD is dementia, which gets worse very quickly. dementia causes memory loss, personality changes, and hallucinations.
Other common mental symptoms include:
Physical symptoms of CJD often include: