ernabookXXL ENGLISH- 3.fass -

illustrative visual material
On March 29, 1943, a judge and two
psychiatrists sit at the table at Heil-Anstalt
Gütersloh. They form the Bielefeld
Hereditary Health Court and decide every
20 minutes on the sterilization of a total of
11 patients. Erna Kronshage is "presented"
there as the third "case" from 8.40 a.m. to
9.00 a.m.: without lawyer or help this last
measure is decided.........
Erna laughs with excitement and
embarrassment at the hearing. To the
question of the gentlemen why she laughs,
she answers recklessly with the actually
deep sentence:
"My laughter is crying".........
The minutes of the meeting then read:
"Erna Kronshage made a tense
impression at the hearing and
laughed for no reason. She said
that her laughter was crying” ...
And this behavior is now pathologically
interpreted in order to underline once again
the "schizophrenia" questioned by Ernas
father.
But 20-year-old Erna laughs so as not to
cry, for she would be ashamed of these
men - to whom she is alone........
65