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Nazi euthanasia, like almost every government programme at the time (except planning for war) happened by chance, at the instigation of 1 or more of Hitler's cronies. Hitler himself was probably the laziest leader in history. He had written the party programme, he had dictated his book 'My struggle' but apart from that and making speeches and eventually (when he became Chancellor) planning for war, he did little else.

The people around him were usually the ones conjuring up new policies, which they ran by him when he was in a good mood, and if their policy fit in he would approve it and ask them not to bother him with details. Of course, his cronies knew what his ideology and his thinking was, and theirs was usually the same or similar, and they mainly did what they thought he would do.

There were several offices claiming to represent Hitler when he was Führer. The Reich Chancellery headed by Hans Heinrich Lammers, the Presidential Chancellery headed by Otto Meissner, the Party Chancellery headed by Martin Bormann, the Führer Chancellery headed by Philipp Bouhler. These offices competed with eachother for Hitler's favor and had significantly overlapping tasks. Hitler just sat back to watch the struggle between the offices.

Bouhler of the Führer Chancellery managed to get control of the Führers personal mail. And it was in 1938 or early 1939 that a letter was found in which a father asked Hitler for permission to have his severely disabled child killed. Hitler naturally approved as it was in line with his racial ideology. Hitler also commissioned the same Bouhler to set up a committee to investigate whether such 'mercy killings' could not be 'granted' to all others who were disabled.

Soon the process had begun. The T4 euthanasia programme killed up to 300,000 people until the programme was formally halted in the fall of 1941. Or in reality, it was postponed until after the war, then it was to resume.

In the meanwhile, events in december 1941 prompted Himmler to go and see Hitler, and in a mysterious meeting after the setback in front of Moscow and the declaration of war upon the USA, Hitler and Himmler talked for hours. What they said on that date, december 18 1941 is not entirely clear, but there is little doubt that the course of the war was discussed (privately, Hitler admitted at this stage to confidants that Germany could very well lose). Hitler had originally planned to 'get rid of the Jews' after the war, but as usual, events and ambitious underlings easily convinced him they might well start right away, or they would run the 'risk of losing and not having tackled the 'Jewish question''. Hitler fully approved of Himmlers plans and from january 1942 onwards the process of simply shooting people was replaced with new methods, amongst others gassing and starvation.

We all know what happened next and what price was paid to stop it. The end of the war put paid to Hitlers plans of finishing off all Jews and other 'racial inferiors', and resuming both the euthanasia programme and the attempts to destroy the church, which was to be replaced with a National Socialist faith.

In Europe however, the process has started again (the euthanasia part of it) and some liberals wish to do the same in the USA. When good people do nothing, they might ver well succeed to follow Europe into the depths of the same deprivations.