Finding aid for the Neuruppin Institute psychiatric file on Fritz Seelig 6227
Bo Doub
USC Libraries Special Collections
2021 June
Doheny Memorial Library 206
3550 Trousdale Parkway
Los Angeles, California 90089-0189
specol@usc.edu
Contributing Institution:
USC Libraries Special Collections
Title: Neuruppin Institute psychiatric file on Fritz Seelig
Creator:
Landesanstalt Neuruppin
Identifier/Call Number: 6227
Physical Description:
1 Linear Feet
1 box
Date (inclusive): 1919-1946
Abstract: The Neuruppin Institute psychiatric file on Fritz Seelig consists of a psychiatric file documenting one of the first victims
of involuntary sterilization at the Neuruppin Institute (
Landesanstalt Neuruppin) in Berlin. Fritz Seelig was recommended to the Neuruppin Institute at the age of 10 by the public school system. Clinic
doctors made a request for Seelig's sterilization in September 1934, on the grounds that it would be a necessary safety precaution
in order for Seelig (then 28 years old) to be released into community home care. This was a very early application of the
new forced sterilization law (
Gesetz zur Verhütung erbkranken Nachwuchses) that went into effect on January 1, 1934. In addition to the doctor's evaluation and sterilization orders, the file includes
letters from the patient's mother to the clinic, family care contracts, medical supply bills, and baptism certificates.
Physical Description: 340 by 250mm (13.5 by 9.25 inches). Loose leaf original two-hole punched folder; 228 numbered items of assorted sizes, mostly
A4 and A5, comprising 322 pages. Multiple stamps on cover noting ["Sterilized"] and ["Hereditary Disease"].
Language of Material:
German
.
Container: 1
The Neuruppin Institute psychiatric file on Fritz Seelig consists of a psychiatric file documenting one of the first victims
of involuntary sterilization at the Neuruppin Institute (
Landesanstalt Neuruppin) in Berlin.
Fritz Seelig was recommended to the Neuruppin Institute at the age of 10 by the public school system:
Fritz S. behaves like an animal, devouring raw meat... He is becoming downright dangerous to the public, and because he strangles
his siblings at home... he belongs... in an institution."
Clinic doctors made a request for Seelig's sterilization in September 1934, on the grounds that it would be a necessary safety
precaution in order for Seelig (then 28 years old) to be released into community home care. This was a very early application
of the new forced sterilization law (
Gesetz zur Verhütung erbkranken Nachwuchses) that went into effect on January 1, 1934.
In addition to the doctor's evaluation and sterilization orders, the file includes letters from the patient's mother to the
clinic, family care contracts, medical supply bills, and baptism certificates.
According to the website of the present-day institute, it is acknowledged that involuntary sterilization was performed on
the institute's patients under the Nazi Party (
Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP) laws. However, a former doctor that was responsible for many of these cases disappeared in 1945 and numerous euthanization
files are missing from the institute. The doctor who evaluated Fritz Seelig, Dr. Julius Tietz, committed suicide by poison
in May 1945.
The descriptive content in this note was adapted from the seller's (Mark Funke, Bookseller) description of the material.
Advance notice required for access.
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Manuscripts Librarian.
Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended
to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
[Box/folder no. or item name], Neuruppin Institute psychiatric file on Fritz Seelig, Collection no. 6227, Special Collections,
USC Libraries, University of Southern California
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from Mark Funke, Bookseller, May 3, 2021.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Involuntary sterilization -- Germany -- 20th century -- Archival resources
Medical ethics -- Germany -- 20th century -- Archival resources
Psychiatric hospital patients -- Germany -- 20th century -- Archival resources
Psychiatric hospitals -- Germany -- 20th century -- Archival resources
Psychiatric records -- Germany -- 20th century -- Archival resources
Correspondence
Medical records
Landesanstalt Neuruppin -- Archives
Seelig, Fritz -- Archives