Grawitz was also a part of the group in charge of the murder of mentally ill and physically handicapped people in the Action T4 "euthanasia" programme, including children from 1939. The officials selected the doctors who were to carry out the operational part of the killing programme. In addition, researchers both in and outside the SS wanted to exploit the supply of inmates held in the SS camps and use them for experiments. In order to do so, the interested parties had to apply to Grawitz, who forwarded requests to "Reichsführer-SS" Heinrich Himmler who then gave final approval.