What Was The Lebensborn Program Of The Nazis?

2022-09-15 14:09:06 Written by Mark Zien

 

During the Hitler regime, there was a program called Lebensborn,

An estimated 20000 babies were born over 12 years.

 

The lebensborn program was an experiment in the creation of a strong army. It was the idea of Hitler who want to create a superior race in humans.

 

So they started by raising the birth rate of “Aryan children” -people who are pure and 'healthy' based on Nazi racial hygiene and health ideology.

An estimated 20000 babies were born over 12 years.

 

What was the purpose of Nazis Lebensborn program?

 

In 1935, the Lebensborn program (source of life) started operating in Nazi Germany. Its founder and principal ideologue were Heinrich Himmler, commander in chief of the SS and one of Hitler's closest collaborators.

 

Image:messynessychic

According to the dictates of the SS, the parents of children who in the future were to rule the world had to be descendants of Aryans, that is, blondes and blue eyes. The child born from such a union should have these racial characteristics, that was the notion that the Nazi elite had about the ideal of the future man. The precursor to the Lebensborn project was the organization "Mãe e Filho", created in 1934 and which allowed single mothers to give birth to children in shelters, where the state cared for both. "Mother and son were" one of the links in the official Nazi demographic policy, to reduce the number of abortions and increase the number of future Reich soldiers.

What is Lebensborn

Image:messynessychic

The women most suitable for the "future rulers of the world", in addition to the Germans, were from Scandinavian countries. Among them, preference was given to Norwegians, with the argument that the descendants of the ancient Vikings corresponded roughly to Aryan blood and could also provide the Führer with exemplary citizens. However, since even Norwegians could not "increase the Aryan race" at the necessary pace, with the outbreak of World War II, it was proposed to expand the scope of the program.

What is Lebensborn program

It was observed that in the occupied Slavic states there were many young blond women, who could be taken to Germany and educated with the "Aryan spirit". Then, they began to select that children with an appearance similar to that of the "superior race" should take them to the occupied territories.

What is Lebensborn program

The first victims of the Lebensborn program among the Slavs were Polish children, as Himmler and his subordinates tried to "Germanize" Poland and destroy Polish national identity. According to Warsaw data, between 150,000 and 200,000 Polish children were forcibly displaced in the war years.

 

"Nordic-looking" children from Slavic countries (Serbia, Czech Republic, Poland, and the USSR) were taken to a children's concentration camp in Lodz, Poland, with a capacity of up to 20,000 people. The work was accompanied by doctors and a specialized team that would determine the "racial value" of each child: they had to match the "superior race" by the color of the eyes and hair, the shape of the skull, and height. They should also be in good health.

What is Lebensborn program

Then they taught the language and if they missed a word in the native language, they beat them mercilessly. In this way, the children developed a conditioned reflex: they should speak only German so that they would not be beaten. In this case, they were well looked after, fed, and constantly monitored their health, emphasizing: "We do this because you were chosen as a representative of the Aryan race".

 

As a general rule, "Germanization" took about three or four months, after which the child was given a foster family, and the Slavic origin of the host was kept secret.

What is Lebensborn program

And since Lebensborn was initially created as a network of shelters for illegitimate German children, the adoptive parents were sure that they adopted an "Aryan" baby. SS inspectors and Lebensborn doctors regularly visited foster homes and conditions for the control and education of children in the "Aryan spirit".

After the Allied victory in 1945, hundreds of thousands of Slavic children remained in that area of ​​Germany, where American troops entered.

 

Then, a small part of the Lebensborn file fell into the hands of the Americans. Later, in 1947, US Army investigators conducted interrogations of children brought from the Slavic countries by the SS to find out whether they wanted to return home or not.

Lebensborn director, head of the SS regiment, Max Zollman, was taken to the Nuremberg court in 1947 and received a sentence of fewer than three years in prison "for being a member of the SS".

What is Lebensborn

Zollman was able to prove to the court that Lebensborn was a charity that did not kidnap children and "saved them from the horrors of war".

Today, in Germany, there are hundreds of thousands of children descended from Slavic children evacuated in the war. They do not know its origins and will hardly come to know it.

What is Lebensborn .wartraveller memorial

image: wartraveller ww2 memorial

Monument in honor of children submitted to the "Lebensborn" program

source 

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