Hospital Colônia de Barbacena

Hospital Colônia de Barbacena (Portuguese for 'Colony Hospital of Barbacena') was a psychiatric hospital located in the Brazilian city of Barbacena, Minas Gerais. From its foundation in 1903 until its closure in 1980, the Colônia has been a place of genocide; official estimates report over 60,000 deaths occurred inside the wards due to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment tantamounted to medical torture over the years. Italian Psychiatrist Franco Basaglia compared the place to a Nazi concentration camp. In 2013, Brazilian journalist Daniela Arbex published O Holocausto Brasileiro ('The Brazilian Holocaust'), an investigative book telling the stories of victims and survivors. The institution is a central feature of the history of mental health services in Brazil and a major motivator for the national anti-asylum movement. The building was repurposed and since 1996 it functions as a museum, the "Museu da Loucura" (Brazilian Portuguese for 'Museum of madness').

Hospital data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).