Guest Author - Kelli Deister

Discrimination against the deaf began in the 1930’s, when the Nazi’s were active and killed thousands of Jewish people, simply because they were Jewish. The Nazi’s did not stop at just Jewish people, but included the deaf in their brutal killings. During those times, people were convinced that a deaf person, even if the person was a child, was in essence a misfit in the world. To many, during those years, the deaf were seen as something bad and shameful.

Apparently, much to my disgust, many deaf children were prevented from having children of their own, through sterilization. Thousands of deaf people, men, women, and children were sterilized during those years. What a horrific act perpetrated against deaf people. My heart breaks at the ill treatment of sterilization performed against the deaf population. Even if a woman was pregnant, she was also sterilized. Unfortunately, her baby died, as was the goal of those in rule during that time span.

My heart breaks on behalf of the thousands that were prevented from having their own children. Those in rule at that time felt it was best to sterilize anyone with hearing loss. They were viewed as being unacceptable to society. Those in charge apparently felt that to allow a deaf person to have a baby, would mean more deaf people.-- more broken people. They were not viewed as human beings, but as broken. This is why the Nazi’s killed and sterilized the children, as well as the adults. It was cruel because if a deaf woman was pregnant, her baby was also killed while still in the womb.

I cannot even imagine how people could be so cruel that they would think of other human beings as being broken and worthless. It is as though once they were labeled as broken, they set about to attempt to fix them. Their idea of fixing them was to prevent them from having any children that could possibly be deaf as well. What a tortuous time in history for those that endured such brutal treatment. I can’t help but be angry at what they did to all of those innocent people.

To treat another human being as being too broken to fix is a tragedy. Yet, it does highlight all of the prejudices and cruelty against those that could not hear. Deaf individuals are not broken. They are intelligent and skilled people, worthy of the highest level of respect. From this day on, my heart is consumed with respect and compassion for those that are deaf.. Against all odds, many deaf people worked hard and became very successful individuals.