We are proud that we will be hosting the exhibition ‘Finding Ivy – A Life Worthy of Life’ at Holocaust Centre North. From 2nd October until the end of the month visitors will be able to learn about British-born victims of the Nazi programme of extermination of those with disabilities known as Aktion T4.
“We are incredibly pleased, and extremely grateful, that Holocaust Centre North have agreed to take this exhibition. The T4 programme was a precursor to the wider Holocaust, and was where the Nazi regime tried and tested its methods to commit genocide, including mass killing by gas, public deception, calming techniques to ensure orderly killing process and recruitment of German civilians into killing programmes. Much of the equipment used at T4 killing centres was packed up and sent to be reassembled at the death camps in Poland, and perpetrators of T4 went on to become perpetrators, sometimes at a very senior level, in the Holocaust. It is therefore an important element of the Holocaust story, and it is important that it is given prominence. It shows how the medical profession at all levels easily and willingly became complicit in mass murder. The exhibition also has important ramifications today in raising issues about how society perceives and treats its most vulnerable members. People with learning disabilities suffer constant injustice and discrimination in medical treatment, and the shadows of eugenic thinking and. At its most extreme form, the T4 programme hang over much practice and policy towards disabled and mentally ill people today. Finally, the presence of British-born victims in the programme is a surprise and of great interest to the British public.” – Dr Simon Jarrett, co-curator of ‘Finding Ivy’
On the 2nd October we will have a launch event where we will be joined by Dr Helen Atherton and Dr Simon Jarett, alongside historian Professor Paul Weindling, a professor of history at Oxford Brookes University and one of the world’s leading experts on the history of psychiatry in Nazi Germany. Together they will discuss the T4 programme and shed light on the meticulous research that has unearthed these 13 heart-breaking and unique life stories. For more information on the event and to book head to our events page.