Gatzke, Gustav

Gustav Gatzke was born on July 25, 1870 in Nimptsch in the district of Bromberg in West Prussia. His profession was listed as machine cleaner, he also worked as a locomotive heater. Gustav Gatzke was the father of eight children. He lived at Eythstraße 69 in Berlin-Schöneberg. In 1940 he was incapacitated because of his alcoholism. When his wife died in 1944, he was taken to the Wittenau sanatoriums in January of that year. In his initial diagnosis, the admitting physician described him as "inconsistent" and noted that Gustav Gatzke had accused his guardian of having him committed only in order to "deprive him of his home." In February 1944, he was transferred to a nursing home in the district of Niederbarnim, but was returned to Wittenau after a short time. Gustav Gatzke was described as a quiet patient. He pressed for his release and was desperate to live in his apartment again, but this was denied him due to an order from the Berlin police chief. On April 26, 1944, he was transferred to the Meseritz-Obrawalde state asylum. From the few entries still made in the medical records there, it appears that he went on a kind of hunger strike and was conspicuous for "expressing many wishes." He died only a short time later on May 5, 1944. It is to be assumed that he was a victim of the murders committed in Meseritz-Obrawalde by the administration of overdoses of medication.