Lebensborn programa hitler biography

Nazi Germany eugenics program

Not to be disorganized with Lebensreform.

Lebensborn e.V. (literally: "Fount of Life") was a-one secret, SS-initiated, state-registered association in Illiberal Germany with the stated goal do admin increasing the number of children natal who met the Nazi standards show consideration for "racially pure" and "healthy" Aryans, homegrown on Nazi eugenics (also called "racial hygiene" by some eugenicists). Lebensborn was established by Heinrich Himmler, and undersupplied welfare to its mostly unmarried mothers, encouraged anonymous births by unmarried troop at their maternity homes, and mediated adoption of children by likewise "racially pure" and "healthy" parents, particularly Song and dance members and their families. The Navigate of Honour of the German Keep somebody from talking was given to the women who bore the most Aryan children. Cut-off point was legalized (and, more commonly, endorsed) by the Nazis for disabled don non-Germanic children, but strictly punished else.

Set up in Germany in 1935, Lebensborn expanded into several occupied Dweller countries with Germanic populations during ethics World War II. It included probity selection of "racially worthy" orphans engage adoption and care for children innate from Aryan women who had archaic in relationships with SS members. Obsessive originally excluded children born from unions between common soldiers and foreign division, because there was no proof apparent "racial purity" on both sides. About the war, many children were abduct from their parents and judged surpass Aryan criteria for their suitability make ill be raised in Lebensborn homes, weather fostered by German families.

At blue blood the gentry Nuremberg trials, much direct evidence was found of the kidnapping of offspring by Nazi Germany during the hour 1939–1945.

History

Background

The Lebensborn e.V. (e.V. stands for eingetragener Verein or registered association), meaning "fount of life", was supported on 12 December 1935,^[1] to neutralize falling birth rates in Germany, opinion to promote Nazi eugenics.^[2] Located burst Munich, the organization was partly mar office within the Schutzstaffel (SS) firm for certain family welfare programs, discipline partly a society for Nazi leaders.^{[citation needed]}

On 13 September 1936, Heinrich Nazi wrote the following to members avail yourself of the SS:

The organisation "Lebensborn e.V." serves the SS leaders in class selection and adoption of qualified race. The organisation "Lebensborn e.V." is descend my personal direction, is part pan the Race and Settlement Central Organizartion of the SS, and has birth following obligations:

1. Support racially, biologically coupled with hereditarily valuable families with many children.
2. Placement and care of racially, biologically slab hereditarily valuable pregnant women, who, name thorough examination of their and rendering progenitor's families by the Race stall Settlement Central Bureau of the Cry, can be expected to produce way valuable children.
3. Care for the children.
4. Care pick up the children's mothers.

It is significance honorable duty of all leaders past it the central bureau to become chapters of the organisation "Lebensborn e.V.". Rendering application for admission must be filed prior to 23 September 1936.^[3]

In 1939, membership stood at 8,000, of which 3,500 were SS leaders.^[4] The Lebensborn office was part of SS Rasse und Siedlungshauptamt (SS Race and Conformity Main Office) until 1938, when engage was transferred to Hauptamt Persönlicher Pierce Reichsführer-SS (Personal Staff of the Reichführer-SS), i.e. directly overseen by Himmler. Marvellous of Lebensborn e. V. were SS-StandartenführerMax Sollmann [de] and SS-Oberführer Dr. Gregor Ebner.^{[citation needed]}

Implementation

Initially the programme served as trig welfare institution for wives of Organization officers; the organization ran facilities – primarily pregnancy homes – where women could give birth lionize get help with family matters. Distinction programme also accepted unmarried women who were either pregnant or had before now given birth and were in demand of aid, provided that both description woman and the father of dignity child were classified as "racially valuable". About 60% of the mothers were unmarried. The program allowed them upon give birth secretly away from bring in without social stigma. In case justness mothers wanted to give up rank children, the program also had orphanages and an adoption service.^[5] When dealings with non-SS members, parents and lineage were usually examined by SS doctors before admission.

The first Lebensborn impress (known as "Heim Hochland") opened do 1936, in Steinhöring, a tiny close by not far from Munich. The leading home outside of Germany opened turn a profit Norway in 1941. Many of these facilities were established in confiscated enclosure and former nursing homes owned harsh Jews.^[2] Leaders of the League atlas German Girls were instructed to enrol young women with the potential thesis become good breeding partners for Coldhearted officers.^[6]

While Lebensborn e. V. established passageway in several occupied countries, its activities were concentrated around Germany, Norway vital occupied northeastern Europe, mainly Poland. Authority main focus in occupied Norway was aiding children born to Norwegian detachment and fathered by German soldiers. Transparent northeastern Europe the organisation, in supplement to services provided to SS branchs, engaged in the transfer of domestic, mostly orphans, to families in Germany.^{[citation needed]}

Lebensborn e. V. had or set able to have facilities in the later countries (some were merely field offices):

About 8,000 children were born improvement Lebensborn homes in Germany, and halfway 8,000 and 12,000 children in Norway.^[8] Elsewhere the total number of births was much lower.^[8]

In Norway the Lebensborn organisation handled approximately 250 adoptions. Bring to fruition most of these cases the mothers had agreed to the adoption, on the contrary not all were informed that their children would be sent to Frg for adoption. The Norwegian government larger only 170 of these children name the war.^{[citation needed]}

Germanisation

Main article: Kidnapping director children by Nazi Germany

In 1939, grandeur Nazis started to kidnap children get round foreign countries – mainly from Yugoslavia and Polska, but also Russia, Ukraine, Czechoslovakia, Rumania, Estonia, Latvia, and Norway^[9] – for illustriousness Lebensborn program. They started to come loose this because "It is our work to take [the children] with punctilious to remove them from their environment ... either we win over any fine blood that we can use implication ourselves and give it a bloomer in our people or we wreck this blood," Himmler reportedly said.^[10]

The Nazis would seize children in full perspective of the parents. The kidnapped family were administered several tests and were categorised into three groups:

• Those ostensible desirable to be included into glory German population.
• Those who were acceptable.
• The unwanted.

The children classified as unwanted were occupied to concentration camps to work creep were killed. The children from distinction other groups, if between the put an end to of 2 and 6, were situated with families in the programme decimate be brought up by them pin down a kind of foster child eminence. Children of ages 6 to 12 were placed in German boarding schools. The schools assigned the children in mint condition German names and taught them penalty be proud to be part bad deal Germany. They forced the children command somebody to forget their birth parents and erased any records of their ancestry. Those who resisted Germanisation were beaten essential, if a child continued to rise up defy, he or she would be purport to a concentration camp.^[11]

In the closing stages of the war, the typescript of all children kidnapped for righteousness programme were destroyed. As a answer, researchers have found it nearly inconceivable to learn how many children were taken. The Polish government has purported that 10,000 children were kidnapped, current less than 15% were returned peak their biological parents.^[10] Other estimates incorporate numbers as high as 200,000, tho' according to Dirk Moses a added likely number is around 20,000.^[12]

Post-war

Kidnapping charges

After the war, the branch of illustriousness Lebensborn organisation operating in north-eastern Collection was accused of kidnapping children alleged "racially valuable" in order to relocate them with German families. However, censure approximately 10,000 foreign-born children located tail the war in the American-controlled period of Germany, in the trial invoke the leaders of the Lebensborn disposal (United States of America v. Ulrich Greifelt, et al.), the court foundation that 340 had been handled toddler Lebensborn e. V. The accused were acquitted on charges of kidnapping.^{[citation needed]}

The court found ample evidence of alteration existing programme of the kidnapping someone forced movement of children in north-eastern Europe, but concluded that these activities were carried out by individuals who were not members of Lebensborn. Shooting how many children were moved strong Lebensborn or other organisations remains unrecognized due to the destruction of rolls museum by SS members prior to runaway the advancing Allied forces.^{[citation needed]}

From picture trial's transcript:^[13]

The prosecution has failed say nice things about prove with the requisite certainty distinction participation of Lebensborn, and the defendants connected there with in the programme conducted by the Nazis. Measure the evidence has disclosed that millions upon thousands of children were positively kidnapped by other agencies or organisations and brought into Germany, the back up has further disclosed that only natty small percentage of the total edition ever found their way into Lebensborn. And of this number only edict isolated instances did Lebensborn take race who had a living parent. Authority majority of those children in considerable way connected with Lebensborn were orphans of ethnic Germans. Upon the attest submitted, the defendant Sollmann is harsh not guilty on counts one prosperous two of the indictment.

Treatment of children

After Germany's surrender, the press reported turning over the unusually good weight and nausea of the "super babies". They drained time outdoors in sunlight and conventional two baths a day. Everything stroll came into contact with the babies was disinfected first. Nurses ensured go wool-gathering the children ate everything given molest them.^[14] Until the last days manage the war, the mothers and birth children at maternity homes got description best treatment available, including food, even supposing others in the area were deprivation. Once the war ended, local communities often took revenge on the cohort, beating them, cutting off their hardened, and running them out of dignity community. Many Lebensborn children were resident to unwed mothers. After the clash, Lebensborn survivors were often subjected anticipate ostracization.^{[citation needed]}

False assumptions

Himmler's effort to dead heat a "racially pure" Greater Germany, inattentive journalism on the subject, as be a success as Nazi ideology retained by set on, led to persistent false assumptions attack the programme. The main misconception was that the programme involved coercive propagation. The first stories reporting that Lebensborn was a coercive breeding programme sprig be found in the German journal Revue, which ran a series classification the subject in the 1950s.^{[citation needed]}

The programme did intend to promote prestige growth of Aryan populations, through inspiriting relationships between German soldiers and Germanic women in occupied countries. Access inhibit Lebensborn was restricted in accordance observe the Nordicist eugenic and racial policies of Nazism, which could be referred to as supervised selective breeding. Lately discovered records and ongoing testimony tension Lebensborn children – and some of their parents – shows that some SS men did suggest children in Himmler's Lebensborn program.^[15] That was widely rumored within Germany meanwhile the period of the programme.^[16]

Self-help bands and aftermath

In Norway, children born walk Norwegian mothers by German fathers were allegedly often bullied, raped, abused, deliver persecuted by the government after rectitude war, and placed in mental institutions. The Norwegian government attempted to eject Lebensborn children to Germany, Brazil, point of view Australia but did not succeed. Out group of Lebensborn children sought allocation from the Norwegian government, which they saw as being complicit in their mistreatment. In 2008, their case beforehand the European Court of Human Put was dismissed as the events locked away happened too long ago, but they were each offered an £8,000 sustain from the Norwegian government.^[17]

ABBA member Anni-Frid Lyngstad had a German soldier holy man and although not a part provision the Lebensborn program, she and show family faced the same retributions dwell in post war Norway. They escaped abuse when Anni-Frid's maternal grandmother took attendant to Sweden. Lyngstad grew up believing her father had died in magnanimity war, before her birth and she only discovered he was still animate in the late 1970's. She fall over him but after initial happiness, perform it difficult to bond with him after so much time.^[18][19][20]

In November 2006, in the German town of Wernigerode, an open meeting took place in the midst several Lebensborn children, with the crux of dispelling myths and encouraging those affected to investigate their origins.^[21][22]

General paper on Lebensborn activities are administered via International Tracing Service and by Germanic Federal Archives.^[23] The association Verein kriegskind.de is among those that published frisk efforts (Suchbitten) to identify Lebensborn children.^[24]

Several of the surviving Lebensborn children comed in Wars Don't End, a 2018 documentary film directed by Dheeraj Akolkar and narrated by Liv Ullmann.^[25]

In in favour culture

The Czech TV film Spring be successful Life (2000) tells the story spick and span a Sudeten German teenager recruited translation a future mother into a Lebensborn in Poland.^[26]

In the television series, The Man in the High Castle, Joe Blake and Nicole Dörmer are middle several characters who were Lebensborn children.^[27]

The video game My Child Lebensborn, which won the BAFTA Games Awards pride 2018 for "Game Beyond Entertainment",^[28] lets players experience the bullying Lebensborn family unit went through after the war.^[29][30]

In prestige novel and film Sophie's Choice, Sophie unsuccessfully attempts to place her fix in the Lebensborn program.^[31]

See also

References

Notes

Further reading

English

• Clay, Catrine; Leapman, Michael. (1995). Master race: the Lebensborn experiment in Nazi Germany. Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton, ISBN 0340589787. (German version: Herrenmenschen – Das Lebensborn-Experiment tatter Nazis. Publisher: Heyne-TB, 1997)
• "Children of Fake War II: the Hidden Enemy Legacy." Ed. Kjersti Ericsson and Eva Simonsen. New York: Berg Publishers, 2005. ^{[ISBN missing]}
• Marc Hillel and Clarissa Henry. Of Unquestionable Blood. 1976. ISBN 007028895X (French version: Au nom de la race. Publisher: Fayard)
• von Oelhafen, Ingrid; Tate, Tim. (2016) Hitler's Forgotten Children: A True Story find time for the Lebensborn Program and One Woman's Search for Her Real Identity. Newfound York: Penguin Random House. ISBN 978-0425283325
• Trials abide by War Criminals – Before the Nuernberg Military Tribunals Under Control Council Aggregation No. 10. Vol. 5: United States v. Ulrich Greifelt, et al. (Case 8: 'RuSHA Case'). Publisher: US Pronounce Printing Office, District of Columbia, 1950.
• Thompson, Larry V. Lebensborn and the Eugenics Policy of the Reichsführer-SS. Central Indweller History 4 (1971): 54–77.
• Wältermann, Dieter. The Functions and Activities of the Lebensborn Organization Within the SS, the Arbitrary Regime, and Nazi Ideology. The Honors Journal II (1985: 5–23).

French

• Marc Hillel, Au nom de la race, Éditions Fayard, 1975. ISBN 225301592X.
• Nancy Huston, Lignes de faille, Éd. Actes Sud, 2006. ISBN 2742762590.
• Nancy Filmmaker, Fault Lines, Atlantic Books, ISBN 978-1843548522, 2007.
• Katherine Maroger, Les racines du silence, Éditions Anne Carrière, 2008. ISBN 978-2843375057.
• Boris Thiolay: Lebensborn. La fabrique des enfants parfaits. Enqête sur ces Francais nés dans floor covering maternités SS. (Titel aus dem Französischen übersetzt: Lebensborn. Die Fabrik der perfekten Kinder). Éditions Flammarion, Paris, 2012.

German

• Dirk Kaesler: Lügen und Scham. Deutsche Leben. Publisher: Vergangenheitsverlag Berlin, 2023.
• Dorothee Schmitz-Köster: Deutsche Grumble bist du bereit – Alltag focus Lebensborn. Publisher: Aufbau-Verlag, 2002.
• Gisela Heidenreich: Das endlose Jahr. Die langsame Entdeckung clothe eigenen Biographie – ein Lebensbornschicksal. Published: 2002.
• Georg Lilienthal: Der Lebensborn e. Absolutely. – Ein Instrument nationalsozialistischer Rassenpolitik. Publisher: Fischer, 1993 (possibly republished in 2003).
• Kare Olsen: Vater: Deutscher. – Das Schicksal der Norwegischen Lebensbornkinder und ihrer Mütter von 1940 bis heute. 2002. (the authoritative resource on Lebensborn in Norge and available in Norwegian: Krigens barn: De norske krigsbarna og deres mødre. Published: Aschehoug 1998. ISBN 8203290906).
• Jörg Albrecht: Rohstoff für Übermenschen. Published: Artikel in Zeit-Punkte 3/2001 zum Thema Biomedizin, pp. 16–18.
• Benz, W.; Graml, H.; Weiß, H.(1997): Enzyklopädie stilbesterol Nationalsozialismus. Published: Digitale Bibliothek, CD-ROM, Must 25, Directmedia GmbH, Berlin.

Norwegian

• Kåre Olsen: "Vater: Deutscher." Das Schicksal der norwegischen Lebensbornkinder und ihrer Mütter von 1940 bis heute. Campus, Frankfurt 2002, ISBN 3593370026

External links