We know that Pauline Klumpp was born on July 9, 1900, in Dainbach, the daughter of shoemaker Josef Klumpp and his wife Helene. She had at least two brothers, Paul and Josef.
At the age of 7, Pauline was forced to leave her parents’ home and, starting on June 9, 1908, lived at the “Institute for the Mentally Disabled” in Mosbach. Her father, whom later Nazi records describe as an alcoholic, was already dead by that time.
Her two brothers also lived in what later became the Johannis institutions, but they died in 1910 and 1916, respectively.

One can only speculate about Pauline’s life in Mosbach. Since, according to Nazi records, she was “unable to be educated [and] could not speak or work,” her daily life was likely very monotonous, as she was merely “held in custody.” The term “custody” is also appropriate given the dormitories housing 25–30 people.
Pauline lived in Mosbach until 1939 and was transferred—after parts of the Mosbach buildings had been requisitioned as an auxiliary hospital—to the “branch facility” at Schwarzacher Hof.
There were a total of three transports from the institutions to Grafeneck. While the first transport carried only men from the Schwarzacher Hof, the second and third transports included both men and women among those destined for death. Pauline was part of the second transport, which took place on September 17, 1940. She was murdered in Grafeneck that very same day, suffering the same fate as 217 other residents.
Unlike many victims, a photograph of Pauline Klumpp has survived. It shows us a seemingly cheerful woman in a coarse institutional smock. The context in which the photo was taken is less positive: the photograph was commissioned by the Office for Racial Policy, which sought to portray people with disabilities in the most repulsive light possible.

Unfortunately, we were unable to determine Pauline Klumpp’s place of residence, so the space in front of the church was used as the installation site.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

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