The facility for Nervously and Mentally Ill Jews, "Zofiówka," operated in Otwock, in the Masovian Voivodeship, from 1908 as a hospital and sanatorium. This place was founded at the initiative of the Society for the Care of Mentally and Nervously Ill Jews. It was established in 1906 by Samuel Goldflam, a neurologist and patron of the arts who helped advance the career of Artur Rubinstein, and also a social activist and collaborator of Janusz Korczak; Adam Wizel, a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst; and Ludwik Bregman, also a neurologist, trained in clinics in Paris, Vienna, and Frankfurt. The land for the center was purchased through the sale of jewelry donated by Zofia Endelmanowa, hence the name of the institution.
The Dark, Wartime History of "Zofiówka." The Nazis Introduced a Program of "Eliminating Life Unworthy of Life" Initially, the hospital had space for 95 patients, but two years later, another pavilion for women was added (thanks to donations from Herman Poznański). In 1926, the facility was expanded again, becoming one of the largest of its kind in Mazovia. From 1935, the institution could accommodate 275 patients. The hospital also admitted impoverished Jews, who were treated free of charge. In other cases, the facility was financially supported by the families of the patients or the communities from which they came. The aim was to reintegrate the patients into society, with work being an essential element of therapy.
During the German occupation, "Zofiówka" was incorporated into the "Curative" ghetto in Otwock. The center was run by Jost Walbum, a Nazi doctor under whose administration the facility was plagued by hunger and terrible conditions for the patients. By German order, "Zofiówka" was the only institution for mentally ill Jews in the governorate. In 1941, 350 patients were placed there, although there was not enough room for them.
On August 19, 1942, the liquidation of the ghetto took place, resulting in the murder of 110-140 patients and doctors from Zofiówka—some were shot on the spot, while others were taken to the Treblinka camp. Only a few staff members escaped by ambulance to Warsaw, and some doctors—Dr. Maślanko, Dr. Lwinówna, Dr. Dorota Lewi, and Dr. Włodzimierz Kaufman, along with other medical staff—committed suicide.
Action T4 First Used "Technology" for Mass Killing During World War II, "Zofiówka" was included in the T4 action program (Aktion T4—from the address of the office in Berlin at Tiergartenstrasse 4, or E-Aktion—euthanasia of disabled people), carried out between 1939 and 1944. Its goal was the killing of mentally or neurologically ill people, which was colloquially known as "eliminating life unworthy of life." The justification for such actions was the ideology of negative eugenics (eliminating burdening genes) and the Nazi concept of "racial hygiene." Initially, people with disabilities or mental illnesses were subjected to compulsory sterilization, which was regulated by the law on the prevention of offspring with hereditary diseases from 1933. About 400,000 Germans were sterilized under this law.
It was the first action to use "technology" for mass murder through shooting, gassing, or poisoning—many of these methods were later used in German concentration camps. The T4 action targeted people with schizophrenia, epilepsy, dementia, Huntington's disease, encephalitis, and those with congenital developmental defects or patients who had been in care institutions for more than five years. The exact number of people who lost their lives under the program is unknown, as it was semi-official. It is estimated that between 1939 and 1945, about 200,000 mentally ill and disabled people were killed as part of T4.
The action is believed to have begun with the "Kretschmar child case." A man named Kretschmar reportedly asked Hitler for permission to kill his child, who was born with hereditary defects. The Führer granted this request and allowed the doctor to "enable" the disabled child's "painless death." Later, a medical commission convened in Sopot decided that from then on, all disabled or handicapped children would be killed by injecting lethal doses of morphine and barbiturates. After birth, such children were reported by medical staff and then sent to care institutions. Consultants of the Third Reich then decided their further fate.
Later, these rules were extended to adults. The T4 action could not use injections because "they were ineffective." Thus, they began experimenting with killing using poisonous gases (car exhaust fumes, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen cyanide). In Świecie, Kocborowo, and Owińska, the first test gas chambers were even built. In 1941, the Church in Germany learned about the action and strongly opposed this practice. Despite this, the program continued, but unofficially. Patients were also condemned to a "special diet" of starvation. In 1945 (after the fall of the Third Reich), the last patient was killed under the action—a four-year-old boy.
In Poland, the T4 action was conducted not only in Otwock but also in centers in Owińsko, Świecie, Starogard Gdański, Dziekanka, Chełm Lubelski, Kościan, Gostynin, Kochanówka, Łódź, Warta, Międzyrzecz, Choroszcz, Kobierzyn, Lubliniec, Działdowo, Piaśnica Wielka, and Rybnik.
In 1943, the Germans planned to open a care and charity center in "Zofiówka" "to renew German blood and breed a Nordic race of superhumans." The so-called Lebensborn action focused on selecting suitable women and men "destined for reproduction" and "creating" genetically and biologically ideal children. The program was also a response to the growing wave of abortions. The facility was also supposed to be involved in the Germanization of Polish children, who were then to be adopted by German families.
Post-war Fate and Stories of "Zofiówka's" Haunting In 1944, Zofiówka was taken over by the Red Army, which handed it over to the city administration. After renovations, it was opened as a training center and later the Central School of the ZMP Active.
After World War II, in 1955, Zofiówka was once again used for medical purposes. Until the mid-1980s, it functioned as a center for tuberculosis patients (then known as the Stefan Okrzeja hospital). Initially, it only admitted young people, but later it also opened wards for adults.
"Zofiówka" returned in 1985 as a branch of the Neuropsychiatric Health Care Complex in Zagórze. Initially, it mainly admitted children with neuropsychiatric disorders (a school for grades V-VIII also operated there), later also drug-addicted youth and adults. Patients were admitted there until the late 1990s.
Stories of the supposed "haunting" of Zofiówka by ghosts date back to 1958 from records kept by nurses. The notes mention that doctors often left the hospital because they were afraid to stay overnight. Employees reported hearing footsteps even when no one was walking, and patients complained of strange movements of their blankets or feelings of suffocation during sleep (parasomnia—sleep paralysis).
Today, the building is in ruins. The doors are broken, windows shattered, and the walls covered with various writings and graffiti. The area is currently in a state of disrepair, and a court case is ongoing, in which the Jewish community is demanding recognition of its right to participate in the property. The Marshal of the Voivodeship and the County Governor are also trying to establish rights to it. "Zofiówka" attracts fans of urban exploration, who take photos, play paintball, and search for evidence that the place is haunted.
