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as well as including the forced sterilization of deaf people.  People like myself.

But that wasn't just In Germany. The UK had a forced sterilisation program too.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Fri Mar 5th, 2010 at 04:21:28 PM EST
And Sweden
until the mid 1950s. A governmental commission was set up, and finished its inquiry in 2000.

The eugenistic legislation was enacted in 1934 and was formally abolished in 1976. According to the 2000 governmental report, 21,000 were estimated to have been forcibly sterilized, 6,000 were coerced into a 'voluntary' sterilization while the nature of a further 4,000 cases could not be determined. The Swedish state subsequently paid out damages to many of the victims.

The program was meant primarily to prevent mental illness and disease. In 1922 a state Institute of Racial Biology was founded in Uppsala and in 1927 Parliament began to deal with the first legal provisions on sterilisation. A new draft was produced in 1932, already taking into account sterilisation for general socio-prophylactic reasons, and even without the consent of the person concerned. The draft was adopted in 1934. Another law, passed in 1941, did not include any age of consent limit.

From 1950, the number of eugenic sterilisations under the 1935 legal provisions gradually decreased and between 1960 and 1970 voluntary sterilisations based on the wishes and in the interest of the persons concerned prevailed.

I remember seeing this in the media when the government inquiry was published after 2000.

En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Mar 5th, 2010 at 04:33:53 PM EST
[ Parent ]
It might be noted that the 1941 government included every party except the communists and that there was long a lack of debate on the subject. Two strong indicators that the program had wide support among different societal elites.

A vote for PES is a vote for EPP! A vote for EPP is a vote for PES! Support the coalition, vote EPP-PES in 2009!
by A swedish kind of death on Tue Mar 9th, 2010 at 05:18:55 AM EST
[ Parent ]

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