What Children of Hitler’s ‘Master Race’ Program Up to Now?

Victims of Lebensborn plan of perfecting future race are alive.

The Nazi administration introduced the Lebensborn program in December 1935 to increase the German Aryan population. The Nazis encouraged Germans to have many children.

Heinrich Himmler created the Lebensborn program, the head of SS, to stop the decline of Germany’s birth rate.

The idea was to increase the German population and to achieve racial purity as a ‘Master Race’ through selective breeding, a race that would dominate Europe as a part of Hitler’s Reich

The Lebensborn program was devised to provide Aryan women with adoption services, financial aid, and well-equipped clinics where they could safely give birth.

All this convenience meant more and more women started signing up for the program. It is estimated around 20,000 children were born in the Lebensborn program. Let’s dig into some chilling details:

The Lebensborn Homes, Complete Care For The Selected

The Lebensborn homes were designed keeping women in mind. In this pleasant space, women could live in comfort while receiving their maternal care and recovering from labour after their baby’s delivery.

The Lebensborn homes were established on countryside properties, owing to the nature of the program.

The Lebensborn program kept the women’s identities confidential, which meant that unmarried women could join easily without worrying about being judged by society. Back in the day, unmarried pregnancy was not accepted by the people.

Single women had to procure permission from the Lebensborn administration before taking their newborns home.

The program took the guardianship of the children born to unmarried mothers and decided where they would be raised.

Creating A Master Race In Secrecy

Almost all the Nazi policies were formed around the theory of racial hygiene or eugenics, and the Lebensborn program was no exception. The racial ideology of the Nazis conclusively influenced the program.

Applicants were only accepted if they could prove their Aryan background and exhibited certain vital features like blue eyes, blond hair and other critical characteristics that defined Aryans.

These pure Aryan women were then bred with the SS officers to get the desired results.

The SS officers involved in the breeding program were already married and had their own families.

The head of the SS encouraged officers to breed outside their marriage because they were considered the right men for the job; hence they had all the characteristics of Aryans.

The officers were persuaded that they were not committing any fornication. They were convinced that this was a part of their job, and for the betterment of the country, there were no limits for these men.

Bad Times After War For The Lebensborn Children

After the war, the children born in The Lebensborn homes were abused and mocked. Nazi child, rat or SS bastard were some of the names used for these children born in the Lebensborn program.

The Norwegian administration started deporting the Lebensborn children out of hate for countries like Australia, Brazil and Germany.

Many of the Lebensborn children had to face trauma very early age, and they started developing issues like wetting their beds, stuttering, and difficulties expressing their emotions.

Some Lebensborn children never found their true identity or felt genuine love for their parents — the sense of abandonment and being lied to since childhood was a source of depression and anger.

Only a small number of The Lebensborn children overcame this stigma and started progressing in life. They were proud of themselves and felt they were a part of some elite.

Abducted Children, Raised As An Aryan

The purpose of The Lebensborn program was to increase Germany’s population, but the problem that the SS faced was its (population) wasn’t rising at the desired rate.

The solution was ‘Abduction’, so SS started kidnapping children who resembled Aryans from other countries. The SS targeted other countries like Yugoslavia and Poland.

Children were kidnapped and given to German families to be raised as Germans. Any child who didn’t fill the criteria was killed.

The SS or the Nazis preferred very young kids because they were easy to brainwash and had no memory which would linger on as they got older.

Himmler wanted to win any Aryan blood for himself, give it a place among his people, and destroy the one who did not fit.

What Happened To The People Involved

When world war II ended, the founder of The Lebensborn program Heinrich Himmler committed suicide by poisoning himself using cyanide.

Max Sollmann, the leader of the Lebensborn program from 1904 to 1970, was not questioned or sentenced for his involvement in the abduction of children.

But, he was convicted for almost three years for his membership in the SS. Max Sollman worked in numerous fields after the war.

Gregor Ebner worked at the Lebensborn as medical head from 1892 till 1974 and later imprisoned for three years.

Children Were Forced to Leave For Their Origins

After the war, the children produced through the program continued living their own lives — and only knew about their true identities upon entering the adulthood.

One of the most famous child of the program is Anni-Frid Lyngstad — a Norwegian-Swedish singer. According to her, the outcomes of the program were marked as traitors and compelled to leave their native countries with their mothers.

Final Words:

The Lebensborn program was designed to increase the Aryan population, no matter the cost. The Nazis didn’t bother thinking about the families destroyed by this initiative.

Children born in the Lebensborn program grew up with emotional complexities and never felt the true love of their parents. Nothing can justify the Lebensborn program.

Sadly, there is nothing we can do to change this part of history, but we can learn from it and never allow something even closer to this terrible program.

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