Contact: Anthony Horvath, 202-697-4623, director@athanatosministries.org

KANSAS CITY, Mo., April 16, 2013 /Christian Newswire/ -- The Holocaust is what comes to mind when people think about Nazi Germany, but few people know that before the Nazis were exterminating Jews, they exterminated fellow Germans.

In what became known as the 'T4 Project', the Nazis sought to eliminate 'defective' people of all ages and races, including their own. Hundreds of thousands of people with mental illnesses and disabilities were quietly 'disposed' of as 'lives unworthy of life.' The gassing technology used to great effect in the concentration camps was originally created and perfected in order to implement the T4 Project.

Derek Elkins' upcoming release "Life Unworthy of Life" draws attention to this little known atrocity, and in doing so draws attention to the beliefs and attitudes that led to the T4 Project in the first place.

The title of the book is drawn from the title of another book, titled "Allowing the Destruction of Life Unworthy of Life." Written in 1920 by two German professors, the book laid the legal and ethical foundations for the view that not only did people have the right to end their lives, but sometimes people had the duty to end other people's lives. For example, if they were suffering... or if they were costing the state an awful lot of money.

This attitude was embraced by the medical community in Germany long before the Nazis came to power. This attitude has been embraced by many bioethicists, today.

However, having the attitude and acting on it are two different things. Written from the perspective of a German doctor who suddenly finds himself implementing the T4 Project, "Life Unworthy of Life" portrays people grappling with the implications of their own ideologies. At its core, the book is an exploration of the value of an individual human, and where that value comes from. As such, though a piece of historical fiction, it calls attention to debates still raging today.

Derek Elkins' "Life Unworthy of Life" was the winner of Athanatos Christian Ministry's 2012 Christian Novel Contest. It is available in print and Ebook and will be officially released at ACM's fourth annual online apologetics conference. The website for the book is www.lifeunworthy.com.

Derek Elkins can be reached through the publisher at director@athanatosministries.org.