It is almost impossible to know the exact amount of children who were kidnapped in the Lebensborn program. In 1946, it was estimated that more than 250,000 were kidnapped and sent by force to Germany. Only 25,000 were retrieved after the war and sent back to their families. It is known that several German families refused to give back the children they had received from the Lebensborn centers.
In some cases, the children themselves refused to come back to their original family - they were victims of the Nazi propaganda and believed that they were pure Germans. As the Lebensborn children returned home, the eastern occupied countries publicly vilified the children. They were intensely bullied, and in some cases, they were mentally and physically …show more content…
An appraised psychiatrist said that most of the 8,000 children who were officially registered must be carrying bad genes and must be stupid, “genetically bad” and that they "belonged in special institutions". As the word of mouth passed by, hundreds of these children were forcibly thrown into mental institutions, where they were mistreated and abused just like the other Lebensborn children. That same year, a Norwegian government official said, "To believe these children will become decent citizens is to believe rats in the cellar will become house pets."
As they grew older, as adults, these Lebensborn children tried to find answers but weren’t able to find any due to Germans uncomfortable with the subject of their past. Their biological or foster parents usually didn’t speak about the program, and for decades, the backstory of the Lebensborn program wasn’t even shared in the media. The Norwegian government tried to deport the Lebensborn children to Germany but the Allies denied it. As they were stuck in Norway, several were arrested and many interned for not even breaking a law. Many of the Lebensborn children lost their jobs, and those who weren’t even affiliated with them were fired for even so little as having been seen talking to these once called “racially pure”
In some cases, the children themselves refused to come back to their original family - they were victims of the Nazi propaganda and believed that they were pure Germans. As the Lebensborn children returned home, the eastern occupied countries publicly vilified the children. They were intensely bullied, and in some cases, they were mentally and physically …show more content…
An appraised psychiatrist said that most of the 8,000 children who were officially registered must be carrying bad genes and must be stupid, “genetically bad” and that they "belonged in special institutions". As the word of mouth passed by, hundreds of these children were forcibly thrown into mental institutions, where they were mistreated and abused just like the other Lebensborn children. That same year, a Norwegian government official said, "To believe these children will become decent citizens is to believe rats in the cellar will become house pets."
As they grew older, as adults, these Lebensborn children tried to find answers but weren’t able to find any due to Germans uncomfortable with the subject of their past. Their biological or foster parents usually didn’t speak about the program, and for decades, the backstory of the Lebensborn program wasn’t even shared in the media. The Norwegian government tried to deport the Lebensborn children to Germany but the Allies denied it. As they were stuck in Norway, several were arrested and many interned for not even breaking a law. Many of the Lebensborn children lost their jobs, and those who weren’t even affiliated with them were fired for even so little as having been seen talking to these once called “racially pure”