T4 (Tiergartenstrasse 4) was a euthanasia program initiated by the Nazis during the Holocaust. Its official time of operation was from 1939-1941, but evidence shows that it covertly continued until the end of the war in 1945. The main objective of T4 was to kill the elderly, the incurably ill, emotionally distraught, mentally disabled, physically impaired, and eventually criminals. These people were deemed by the Nazis to have a "life unworthy of living" and were burdens to the state. This, along with "economic considerations," were used to justify the T4 program. The Nazis believed that in a time of war and bettering the state, the funds and energy of caring for these people could be put to better uses. "Wartime is the best time for the elimination of the incurably ill" -Adolf Hitler.

Hitler placed Dr. Karl Brandt and Chancellery Chief Phillip Bouhler in charge of overseeing the program and the physicians that composed of the staff. T4 worked by surveying psychiatric institutions, hospitals, and homes for chronically ill patients. Forms would be taken of these people and were sent to the physicians for review. Preexisting medical records were never read and patient examinations were rarely conducted. Patients were taken into T4 custody where visitation was not allowed. Execution methods for patients consisted of starvation, lethal injection, and asphyxiation by poison gas (gas chambers). After the patients were executed, physicians would send out insincere condolence letters, falsified death certificates, and ashes to patients' family members.

While many atrocities were committed in the T4 program, few doctors protested. The most evidence of resistance to the actions of T4 was generated by the Roman Catholic Church. The church saw the "mercy killings" as religiously unacceptable. Bishop of Minister Clemens August Von Galen, argued that taking lives was against the duties of Christians. 

It was often speculated that some of the practices in T4 would foreshadow the atrocities in the camps. Gas chambers were first tested and implemented in T4 before being introduced into the camps. Also, many of the T4 physicians would later help compose the camp staff.

T4 was finally brought to an end by the finishing of World War 2. A program falsely justified as scientific research officially claimed 70,000 victims in 1941. Additionally, historians and eye-witness reports estimate around 200,000 victims by 1945.

Text by Capri Salmon