Friedhofkirche St. Stephan Irsee

Cemetery description

During World War II, the buildings of the Benedictine monastery in Irsee were taken over by a branch of the Medical and Care Kaufbeuren Institution, which, in the area of Bavaria, played the role of a so-called ‘assembly point’ for incurably sick labourers from the East and from Poland. This was one of the Action T4 centres that were part of the program of the physical ‘elimination of a life unworthy of life’ (German ‘Vernichtung von lebensunwertem Leben’). Within this action, mentally sick patients and those with hereditary disabilities were murdered. Approximately 2,000 patients were killed in Kaufbeuren and Irsee, above all children.
Between 1943-1945, in total, 242 forced labourers and prisoners of war were also admitted, including 81 from Poland. From among these, according to the hospital books of admissions and discharges, 22 persons died or were killed in Kaufbeuren.
The graves of the Polish victims can be found in the monastery’s cemetery and in the cemetery that belongs to St. Stephen’s Church in Irsee.
The cemetery, which has a small church, is located on top of a mountain - in the place where a mediaeval castle used to be. The victims of the euthanasia program are commemorated by a small chapel with a Pieta and a memorial plaque. Upon this, the following words are inscribed: ‘Let us remember in our prayers about the men and women from the medical and care institution in Irsee, who found here their final resting place and are awaiting eternal resurrection. In memory of the victims of the Nazi euthanasia action from the years 1941-1945 who rest in this place.’ Unfortunately, it is impossible to establish the personal data of the persons who are buried here.

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