Markus Stuckenbrock, Hamburg Symposium Speech

The following is the transcript of Markus Stuckenbrock's address to the 2010 Hamburg Scientology Symposium. Markus' presentation, delivered in German, was not posted to Youtube. Thanks to “Ackerland” for translating it for the WWP wiki.

Many are aware that Markus' brother, Uwe Stuckenbrock, died in Scientology's “Rehabilitation Project Force” after suffering many years with Multiple Sclerosis. Uwe was 45 years old.

In this speech Markus describes his search for the truth about his brother's death and his feelings about Scientology. He also offers a kind thank-you to Anons and critics. Thanks Markus!

I will now attempt to outline the story of my brother, who lived in the Sea Org of the Scientology Church in California for 27 years, as I have reconstructed it in the 17 months since his death by interviewing numerous Ex-Scientologists about Uwe's life in the Sea Org at the international headquarters of the Scientology Church.

Four of the present speakers knew Uwe personally and can corroborate parts of my story. What the other witnesses had to say about the ordeal of my brother in the Sea Org can be seen in the documentary "The Soul Catchers - How Scientology destroys people's lives", which runs on March 31st at 11.00pm on SWR 3.

The Scientology Church claims and promises that L. Ron Hubbard's "Technology" can bring about miracles and heal severe illnesses like depression, seizure disorders, diabetes, cancer and multiple sclerosis.

Illnesses like a common cold or an influenzal infection are deemed psychosomatic. This means they are "mocked up" by the mind according to Hubbard's teachings.

Most Scientologists who are ill thus reject the necessary medication and are looking for salvation in auditing instead of looking for skilled and competent medical help. This is because Hubbard makes untenable promises in countless of his writings and because he has attacked and demonized mainstream medicine, especially psychiatry, psychology, as well as the use of all narcotics. A so-called case supervisor decides whether auditing may continue if a certain person is to take medicine.

People with disabilities of any kind are classified as "unethical" in Scientology, and this belief has its roots in the philosophy of Hubbard, which is described in the book "Dianetics - The Modern Science of Mental Health", published in 1950 already.

Couriously enough, these claims were never proven scientifically - at least not by recognized specialists or physicians. Furthermore there are no documented studies of psychiatrists or psychologists implying that L. Ron Hubbard's "modern science" really works.

Without this scientific evidence these practices of Scientology may possibly be conformant to the definition of a "religion" - at least in the American jurisdiction - but without doubt one can say that Scientology makes medical promises and purports to heal medical conditions without having any medical qualification.

In my opinion, the negligence and the denial of modern medicine caused the cruel suffering and the very early death of my brother Uwe in Scientology's Sea Org in California in October of 2008.

Uwe decided to join the Sea Org at the age of 16. For a member of the Sea Org, contact to the free world is strictly regulated and even forbidden under certain circumstances! In all the 27 years that Uwe was working in the Sea Org up to his death he only once got permission to visit his family in Germany. This was at the end of the eighties, even though during telephone conversations he always kept asserting he very much wanted to visit us.

I remember two conversations with him at the end of the nineties in which he clearly stated he was not allowed to visit us, because the Sea Org feared he could flee. At this time we already had made firm arrangements that he would come visit for his mother's next birthday under all circumstances, and we wanted to connect this visit with a little trip to Italy because he also wanted to spend some time with his three little nieces.

This trip could never take place, Uwe could never again celebrate a birthday with his mother or his siblings and he was not allowed to see his nieces ever again, because he was never again allowed to leave the Sea Org to visit his family.

In the year of 1996 a physician first expressed the suspicion Uwe could have multiple sclerosis. I want to make clear that I'm not claiming Scientologists never go to the doctor. Rather in the Sea Org they do it from time to time in the Sea Org when the money is being approved, or if it really gets critical and somebody in their organization could die. That would be "bad PR".

In 1998 Uwe escaped from the international headquarters near Hemet in California. He escaped in a similar way as Marc Headley with a motorcycle, but was quickly located by security personnel and brought back. His wife Laurisse, who was the right hand of the Scientology leader David Miscavige since the eighties until today, played a very decisive role in this. At the time of his escape Uwe knew he very probably had MS and if he had succeeded in fleeing to Germany, he'd still be alive in my opinion. The newest findings I gained through my trip to California confirm this.

Afterwards, Uwe was demoted to a so-called "RPF" in 1998. This is some kind of worker and conformity camp in which defecting or allegedly bad producing employees shall be led back to the true path. They must work through three stages and are deprived of all rights and liberties on the lowest stage in particular. At this lowest level no contact to family is allowed, not even to your own children. The "ethics officer" in charge decides at the second stage e.g. for how many hours you're allowed to see your partner and at which location. With his severe multiple sclerosis he spent at least ten years in such punishment camps, starting from 1998 on the RPF in Happy Valley which Bruce Hines can report about, and from 2001 to end of 2006 on the RPF in the so-called "Blue Building" in Los Angeles.

In an RPF any communication to the outside world is very difficult or even impossible. People are completely cut off from the free world - to think freely and to obtain independent information is verboten. They may only talk within the organisation if they're being talked to. Their private mail is opened and they may not have any unsupervised phone calls.

Even Sea Org members that are not located in the RPF must always get approval for medical examinations, which are often denied. Besides, someone who most of the time has a weekly working schedule of over a 100 hours and a maximum of two free days a year, simply has no time to see the doctor. And like I said, if you're ill then something is not right according to Hubbard. So many employees keep silent about their health problems to evade ethics handlings that most of the time are accompanied by a reduced salary which already is a joke with 30 dollars a week. Thus, Uwe was unable to set aside money which would have made a better medical supervision possible to him in this tragic situation.

Over the course of many years my family was not informed, or lied to about his deteriorating condition. Only in 2002, 6 years after the first suspicions and 14 years after the first symptoms of multiple sclerosis were we informed as I have learned subsequently.

In the "Blue Building" in Los Angeles, Uwe had to sleep in mass accommodations together with 40 others RPF members. He was then assigned to a slightly better broom closet which had room for two beds only.

In 2006 he was finally shoved off into a third-class nursing home which is graded "poor" in one assessment on the Internet. He was situated in a shared room there, too.

My brother died on October 6th of 2008.

We weren't even asked whether Uwe's ashes shall be sent to Germany.

Scientology hindered my brother from informing his mother and his family in time about his illness.

Scientology suppressed Uwe for 27 years from communicating freely with his family. And when he got worse it was even more difficult to reach him.

Scientology hindered my brother from starting a family.

Scientology prevented that my brother would get the badly needed love of his family.

Scientology is responsible that he will never be able to take his nieces into his arms.

Scientology hindered him from leading a happy and free life. A free life without the manipulations and accusations he'd be inferior.

I have seen and felt the pain that was inflicted on my mother and my family due to these incredible crimes. After a year in the Sea Org we wanted to visit him in East Grinstead in 1980, but he had already departed for California. He promised to come for our mother's 50th birthday - he was not allowed to.

He promised to make a short trip to Italy with my wife and my daughters - he was not allowed to travel because the Sea Org feared he could flee.

He promised to come for our mother's 60th birthday in the year of 2001, but he was held back. In March of 2004, my mother died from a short and severe cancer illness. Her most important subject in my last conversations with her was her deep sorrow that she could never again see Uwe and that she had not been allowed to help him.

Hubbard claims he can create a new, better human with Scientology. A so-called "Homo Novis". Chronically ill people or people with disabilities have no room in his world. People that are different or want to be different are locked away and isolated and they shall have no rights whatsoever in this system.

As a special needs assistant, I have been working with handicapped persons for 20 years. I know that these persons are not of less value and most of the time give much more to me and their fellow humans than so-called "normal people".

In a world governed by Scientology this "being different" must not exist and this reminds us of another totalitarian system which has destroyed our country once already. That's why it's important to make these fascistic traits of the Scientology organisation known and to make sure that it cannot subvert our democratic state of law.

Thank you to you Anons, because you're watching the backs of Scientology breakaways with your worldwide activities.

Many thanks to all breakaways that have the courage to speak against the totalitarian system Scientology in public and in court.

And a very dear "Thank You" to Ms. Caberta who makes events like these possible.

Thanks!