Idstein (dpa/lhe) – A memorial for victims of National Socialism is to be built in a former hospital on the Kalmenhof site in Idstein im Taunus. As the State Welfare Association (LWV) Hessen announced on Friday in Kassel, a memorial and learning site is to be set up on the top floor. Between 1939 and 1945, the National Socialists murdered more than 700 children, young people and adults in the Kalmenhof. Many of the victims were buried in a field behind the hospital, the building was the main crime scene.
Since the late 1980s, a brick rondel next to a 250 square meter burial ground has commemorated the victims of the organized mass murder of mentally ill, physically or mentally handicapped people. The Vitos group of companies currently operates several facilities for the disabled and youth welfare on the Kalmenhof site. Vitos is a subsidiary of the State Welfare Association.
In Idstein there had long been a discussion about how the former Kalmenhof hospital and the area should be dealt with appropriately. According to the LWV, two related exhibitions are to be created in the building and in the outdoor area for the planned memorial and learning site, which will extend over three historical locations and be connected by paths. The grave area next to the former hospital should become a memorial landscape.
