[The "pediatric department" in Lüneburg: murder of handicapped children between 1941 and 1945].

At the end of the year 1941 a department for severely handicapped children, called "Specialized children's department" was established in the state mental hospital at Lüneburg. Until 1945 695 children were admitted there, 418 of them did not survive. The majority of those children were killed--mostly by means of high dosages of barbiturate. In this article the formation of the department, the origins of the approach, the explanations of the persons involved and the experiences of the affected parents are described.