How are World War II and the Lebensborn Linked?
The Lebensborn (German for “free born”) were children conceived by unwed mothers, born and raised by special homes maintained by the Nazis in order to provide replacements for Germans who died fighting in World War II. The name also refers to the “Nazi organization set up by SS leader Heinrich Himmler, which provided maternity homes and financial assistance to the wives of SS members and to unmarried mothers, and which also ran orphanages and relocation programmes for children. Initially set up in Germany in 1935, Lebensborn expanded into occupied countries in western and northern Europe during the Second World War. In line with the racial and eugenic policies of Nazi Germany, the Lebensborn programme was restricted to individuals who were deemed to be “biologically fit” and “racially pure”, “Aryans”, and to SS members. In occupied countries, thousands of women facing social ostracism because they were in relationships with German soldiers and had become pregnant, had few alternatives
