Blond, blue-eyed and tall – that ́s how they should look, The Lebensborn children, carriers of the Nazi legacy and meant to become the elite in the Third Reich. After the war ended they were left alone with the shame and taboo. For many it was now the war started.
In 1935, Heinrich Himmler introduced the idea of the SS Lebensborn organization. The original idea was to help the children of SS-soldiers and unmarried women, to ensure and increase the proportion of a pure Aryan race in Germany. The organization had their own maternity homes for unmarried mothers who were deemed racially valuable. Both mothers and newborns were given a racial assessment and children were brought up by military discipline under a philosophy that early detachment from the mother was an important method to ensure a less needy, strong and independent master race. It is also known that newborn babies who did not meet the requirements were killed.
In the course of the war the Lebensborn-homes were even more important to secure clean Aryan children due to the large decline in birth, and big losses as a result of the war. Norway was the country outside Germany who had the most Lebensborn-homes because of their highly regarded Aryan genes. During the war there were ten Lebensborn homes in Germany, nine in Norway, and one home in Austria, Belgium, France and Luxembourg.
The film will consist of in-depth portraits of Lebensborn-children from around Europe. What consequence does the lack of intimacy and parental care have?
To be released 2017.
Length // 52/74 min
Director // Karoline Grindaker & Hilde K. Kjøs
Co-producer // Lichtblick Media, Berlin
Cinematographer // Hilde K. Kjøs
Composer // KAADA
Date of release // TBC
Sales agent // DR International Sales