FILM & GESPRÄCH: Dokumentarfilm "SCHWARZE HÄUSER" mit Gast

Special screening of the documentary "Schwarze Häuser" by Katrin Sikora.

In the presence of and followed by a discussion with the film’s main protagonist, Detlef Lichtrauter (protagonist and first chairman of the Association for the Reappraisal of Child Placements in North Rhine-Westphalia, e.V.)

Between the 1950s and 1980s, millions of children in Germany were sent to so-called sanatoriums. The goal was healing and recovery. Instead, however, many experienced forced medication, humiliation, and systematic violence. Numerous children who were sent away returned traumatized—among them bestselling author Sabine Ludwig and activist Detlef Lichtrauter.

“Schwarze Häuser” sheds light on the structural violence of this so-called “healing system.” The film explores these long-suppressed experiences through intimate eyewitness accounts and archival footage, interwoven with the director’s family history. At the same time, the youth ensemble of the Junges Deutsches Theater Berlin is staging a play based on original documents and memories. The director’s artistic exploration opens a cross-generational dialogue about silence, power, and institutionalized violence—topics that are alarmingly relevant today.