World War II is known for some of the worst atrocities committed against humanity.
Many can agree that this was a dark time in our history, fueled by a ruthless ideology
and a desire to promote the wellbeing of what was considered the “superior” or “master”
Aryan race.
The Aryan race included those with pure German blood who possessed white skin, blonde hair,
and blue eyes, modeled after Scandinavian people.
Given the lengths the Nazis were willing to take to create a new Germany, it may seem
unsurprising that they would have a program specialized for breeding human beings in accordance
with their philosophy on eugenics.
During the 12 years of the Third Reich, between 1933 and 1945, it is estimated that around
20,000 babies were bred by the Nazis in Germany as well as in Norway.
A state-sponsored, top-secret program known as Lebensborn was initiated by Heinrich Himmler.
The word “Lebensborn” means “fountain of life.”
It focused on increasing the birth rate of blonde, blue-eyed Aryan children through interbreeding.
To do this, racially ‘pure’ women were hand-selected to sleep with SS officers in
the hope that they would become pregnant.
So how did Lebensborn determine which women were fit for breeding?
It was a very carefully orchestrated process.
First, a woman was given a series of medical examinations and had to undergo a thorough
investigation into her lineage.
Obviously, it was imperative that she possess no Jewish blood in her veins.
She also had to make a statutory declaration that there was no trace of hereditary disease
or “imbecility” in her family.
Additionally, she had to sign a document that renounced all her claims to any children that
she produced in the Lebensborn program.
This is because these children would be considered property of the state.
She had to show a certificate of Aryan ancestry dating as far back as her great-grandparents.
Only after given the all-clear was the woman then allowed to select a breeding partner
from a chosen group of SS officers.
She was encouraged to pick someone with similar hair and eye color to her own.
She and her choice would then get busy.
You might now be wondering who would volunteer to participate in this program.
Mostly, people who strongly believed in the importance of Nazi ideals.
Hildegard Trutz was one such woman.
She was a loyal supporter of the Nazis since Hitler came to power.
She was a member of the Bund Deutscher Madel, otherwise known as BDM, which was basically
the female equivalent of the Hitler Youth.
Trutz joined the BDM in 1933 and loved it.
She was quoted by historyextra.com as saying, “I was mad about Hitler and our new better
Germany.”
When she finished her schooling in 1936, she was only eighteen and not sure what to do
with her life.
That’s when a BDM leader approached her with a suggestion.
He said, “If you don’t know what to do, why not give the Fuhrer a child?
What Germany needs more than anything is racially valuable stock.”
Because it was top secret, Trutz didn’t know about the Lebensborn program but she
was intrigued by it, later admitting that it sounded wonderful to her.
Despite knowing her parents would probably disapprove of the idea due to the stigma associated
with pregnancy while not being married, Trutz signed up for the program right away.
She lied to her folks while explaining that she was taking a residential course in National
Socialism for a while.
She probably felt flattered by the whole thing.
After all, during her time with the BDM, she was singled out as a figurehead for her local
organization, mainly due to her ideal, Germanic appearance.
She said, “I was pointed out as the perfect example of the Nordic woman for besides my
long legs and my long trunk [and blonde hair and blue eyes], I had the broad hips and pelvis
built for child-bearing.”
Thus, she was willing to dedicate her life to the cause by producing children for her
beloved Fuhrer, the big man himself: Adolf Hitler.
Trutz explained her experience with Lebensborn as being luxurious.
She stayed in a castle in Bavaria, located near the Tegernsee.
There were rooms for recreation, sports and games, as well as a library, music room and
cinema.
According to Trutz, the food was also the best she’d ever tasted.
She was one among forty other girls there at the time and they all lived under false
names.
The women didn’t have to work, and their needs were catered to by servants.
It was a relaxing lifestyle, like a high-quality vacation.
Trutz and the other girls were introduced to the SS men who were to be their breeding
partners.
There was a getting-to-know-you session and the group played games, watched movies and
enjoyed social gatherings in the castle together.
The women were given a week to choose which man they wanted to get down and busy with.
The names of the men were not given to them though because the Lebensborn program was
built on anonymity.
Once the choice was made, the women had to wait until the tenth day of their menstrual
cycles, from the first day of their last period.
This is roughly around the time that they would be ovulating and thus, most fertile.
The chosen SS officers would sleep with their women for three evenings within their fertile
window.
On other evenings, he’d sleep with more women who had chosen him as their breeding
partner.
In essence, the men were like studs, prized racehorses to be used for this specific purpose.
Trutz was very excited about the sexual activity and the fact that she was doing this for the
cause that she so heavily believed in.
She said she had “no shame or inhibitions of any kind.”
She was impressed with her breeding partner’s good looks though, she had to admit, she thought
he was not really the brightest bulb.
She even went as far as to say she thought he was kind of stupid.
When Trutz fell pregnant, she was relocated into confinement in a maternity home for the
next nine months.
When it came time to deliver her baby, she didn’t use any aids for the pain.
Pain alleviation for childbirth was frowned upon as it was something used in the – quote,
“degenerate Western democracies”- unquote.
Trutz was only able to be with her baby son for two weeks while she weaned him.
Then, he was taken from her and she would never see him again.
Trutz never discovered what happened to her son and his fate is shrouded in mystery.
Nevertheless, in the years that followed, Trutz was tempted to breed more children with
the program, but she fell in love with an SS officer and got married.
When she told her husband about her involvement with the Lebensborn program, he did not react
the way she had hoped.
He was not pleased with it but, at the same time, he couldn’t exactly criticize her
for it because she had been doing her duty to the Fuhrer.
Children produced from the Lebensborn program were to be brought up in special institutions
where they would be indoctrinated in Nazi ideology.
They were meant to lead a glorious future in the new Germany, but Hitler and the Nazis
didn’t anticipate losing the war.
After World War II ended, the children were heavily ostracized due to the negative stigmatization
associated with their connection to the Nazis.
For the ones living in Norway, being associated with Germany became a crime.
For the most part, the children were alone, unprotected and hated by the state.
With literally nowhere to go, many were institutionalized.
In these institutions, they were often treated very badly, scorned and abused.
This is sad when you consider that these were just children who didn’t choose their fate.
Nevertheless, many would spend their lives trying to distance themselves from their past
association with Lebensborn and the Nazi party.
It was a legacy that caused many of them to feel ashamed.
Some of the lucky children who had been adopted into families were never told of where they
came from, so they had no idea.
A lot of Germans to this day still don’t know they were Lebensborn children while others
who do know could not obtain the records to find their birth parents.
Many of the records were destroyed since a lot of the fathers did not want to be found
and revealed as SS men after the war.
Still, even for those few who had fathers who did not try to hide their identities,
the names of many parents had been stricken from record.
Only a few were actually able to trace their birth parents’ identities.
One must wonder whether the breeding program was even worth the trouble.
It is interesting that so much emphasis was directed towards creating more blonde-haired,
blue eyed children.
Especially when you consider that there is no scientific evidence indicating that blonde
hair and blue eyes is somehow more racially valuable or has any advantage over other races.
Still, you might be wondering why Lebensborn was such a tightly guarded secret during the
time of the war.
For the most part, the secrecy was due to the negative connotation with producing illegitimate
children at the time.
Though, Hitler had actually planned on being open about the program once the war had been
won.
He was, of course, overly optimistic about the outcome.
So, what would have happened if the Lebensborn experiment was left to continue?
Well, the use of artificial selection techniques would have certainly succeeded in terms of
leading to the production of many similar-looking people.
But, more than likely, they probably wouldn’t have been superior to anyone else.
The Aryan race is nothing more than a construct and there is no defining characteristic that
separates blonde-haired, blue eyed people genetically from others.
In fact, all humans, regardless of race, are very close to being genetically identical.
It all seemed kind of hypocritical when you also consider that Hitler did not embody any
of the criteria of the ideal race.
He was short with dark hair and brown eyes.
He definitely did not fit the description of the race that he promoted.
On the topic of contradictions, many SS officers also felt that the Lebensborn program did
not conform to the Nazi principles of protecting good, old-fashioned family values.
They didn’t agree with producing children for the state.
Thus, many of them refused to participate.
Though they were encouraged to have at least four children each and could be fined if they
didn’t, the average SS household possessed one child.
Aside from the breeding program, many women who were part of Lebensborn also joined because
they were already pregnant.
As well as producing children, the program was intended to discourage the abortions of
Germanic, Nordic babies by providing a safe, comfortable environment for single mothers
to have their pregnancies and give birth in a private setting while being sheltered from
outside judgement and criticism by others.
The mothers were also given prenatal care and had the option of releasing their children
into Nazi custody if they were unable to keep them.
In order to be accepted for care with the Lebensborn program, not only did you have
to resemble the ideal German race, but you also had to be carrying the child of someone
who fit the physical requirements.
Women had to give names of the fathers and be approved upon admission.
Are there people you know of who had been scarred by the Nazi breeding program?
Do you believe the Lebensborn children were unfairly treated for their Nazi connection
after the war?
What do you think of the parents who participated in the program?
Let us know in the comments!
Also, be sure to check out our other video The Nazi's Secret Plan to Destroy British
Economy!
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