Gekrat

(Acronym for Gemeinnutzige Kranken-Transport G.m.b.H.)

(Charitable Society for the Transportation of the Sick)

   The German government agency, which had its headquarters in Berlin, was responsible for routing the gray buses and other vehicles that transported patients to the killing centers that implemented the Euthanasia Program. After patients were evaluated, the transportation section compiled the list of names of those who were designated for extermination.

   Despite efforts by the German government, it became impossible to keep the operation secret inasmuch as violence was often used to get patients into the buses. Onlookers witnessed these scenes, and soon rumors spread among the population as to the real function of the Gekrat.

   Increasingly the population took notice of the gray Gekrat buses, with their windows curtained or painted, traveling en route to the “euthanasia” facilities. The population referred to the Gekrat buses as “killing crates.”