Forgotten Crimes ─ The Holocaust and People With Disabilities

Between 1939 and 1945 the Nazi regime systematically murdered hundreds of thousands of children and adults with disabilities as part of its "euthanasia" programs. These procedures were designed to eliminate all persons with disabilities who, according to Nazi ideology, threatened the health and purity of the German race.
Forgotten Crimes explores the development and workings of this nightmarish process, a relatively neglected aspect of the Holocaust, Suzanne E. Evans's account draws on the historical record as well as scores of exclusive interviews with disabled Holocaust survivors.
Ms. Evans provides portraits of the chief organizers and accomplices of the killing programs, and investigates the curious role of Switzerland's rarely discussed exclusionary immigration and racial eugenics policies.
Finally, Forgotten Crimes notes the inescapable implications of these Nazi medical practices for our present day controversies over eugenics, euthanasia, genetic engineering, medical experimentation, and rationed health care.

Suzanne Evans is a lawyer and journalist who is completing her Ph.D. in history at the University of California, Berkeley. Her writings have appeared in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and other national publications. She lives in Newport Beach, California.