Due to the effects of World War I and its subsequent treaties, the birth rate of citizens in Germany dropped significantly. To counteract the effects of the Germanic depopulation, the Third Reich began an Aryan breeding program led by Heinrich Himmler and the SS, known as the “Lebensborn” program . A means of putting Joseph Mengele’s eugenic experiments into practice. Women from different parts of occupied Europe were chosen to sleep with SS officers and give birth to a new generation of “genetically pure” Aryan babies.

Between 1936 and 1945, women in the Fountain of Life program gave birth to approximately 20,000 children. However, the Fountain of Life project was beyond the scope of eugenics at the time, as it was also a method of indoctrination. More than 200,000 children across Europe were sent to German foster homes, where they were forced to assimilate into German culture.

At the end of World War II, the Third Reich tried to hide their experiments. But in many of the countries where it has participated, the babies born of the Fountain of Life project have quickly become the target of persecution. Although their participation was not of their own volition, the children of the “Fountain of Life” project were still neglected and even humiliated.

The project was established in 1935 to increase the Aryan population

The First World War left a deep shadow in German history. More than 2 million soldiers were killed in the conflict, and the Treaty of Versailles forced the Central European country to pay financial reparations and abandon Alsace-Lorraine, an industrial area on its western frontier. Furthermore, the Weimar Republic, which rose from the ruins of the German Empire, was too weak to appease the German people.

The National Social Worker’s Party came to power during these difficult times, promising to restore the country to its former imperial glory. The party argues that it needs to create super-creatures of Aryan descent, or “Übermensch,” through eugenics, and remove those they consider inferior from the state. Learned from Friedrich Nietzsche, the word Übermensch, meaning “superior man”, was regarded by the party as the ultimate representation of humanity.

As part of this effort, on December 12, 1935, the Führer of the Reich SSHeinrich Himmler created The Fountain of Life program was launched to increase the population of Germany and northern Europe after years of declining birth rates in Germany.

U.S. eugenics practices inspired this program in Germany

in ” Before the Fountain of Life program began, the United States had been promoting eugenics for decades. Although the movement began in the first decade of the 20th century, in 1927 the Supreme Court ruled that forced sterilization was legal in Buck v. Bell.

This single court decision affected the entire country from the 1920s to the 1970s. And the policy targets the disabled, the mentally ill, minorities, unwed mothers and the poor. It had a major impact on Germany’s desire to target specific groups in the same way.

Adolf Hitler wrote in his book Mein Kampf: “Today there is a country, at least when it begins to move towards a better idea of ​​citizenship. , a weak start.” “Of course, this is not our model German Republic, but America.”

Party Guard recruits women of “pure Aryan descent” for Fountain of Life

Heinrich Himmler and the SS recruited German and Norwegian women specifically for the project . Participants were encouraged to sleep with SS officers and have children out of wedlock in exchange for housing, protection and health care. After giving birth, the mother relinquishes all parental rights to the child.

Hildegard Trutz was one of the first women to participate in the program. She was tall and blond, considered typical Nordic features. Truz was also a long-time supporter of the party and joined the Fountain of Life program in 1936 at the age of 18.

In order to be admitted, she underwent a series of medical tests and background checks to ensure her pure Nordic background.

After the plan failed, the Third Reich took other evil measures

This project is not initially It was as successful as expected. In 1939, Heinrich Himmler instructed the SS to seize children who met Aryan standards. During World War II, the SS was forcibly removed from other countries (mainly Poland and Yugoslavia) About 200,000 children for the Fountain of Life program.

Through a process of “Germanization,” the program forces these children to believe they are abandoned by their families, thereby Rejecting their childhood and biological parents, and inculcating their ideology. SS families adopted those who did not resist, and those who rejected were transferred to concentration camps.

After World War II, only 25,000 displaced children were identified and reunited with their families.

The The project is mainly aimed at girls

The Fountain of Life program targets young women around the age of 20. The program’s policies encourage them to surrender their bodies to the state. Leaders of the Third Reich People have also used the participation of youth groups to increase membership in the Fountain of Life program.

It was through one of these groups, Hildegard Truez Became a volunteer. After completing her studies, she talked to the group leader about her future. The group leader advised Truez to fulfill her patriotic duty to have children for Germany’s future. She signed up immediately.

SS officers and women’s associations experienced a hidden Name process to ensure conception

After entering the Fountain of Life program, women experience socialization, choice and connection. The women would meet SS officers in various places, have social interactions, and after the interaction select a man based on their favorite to carry out the conception work.

These women wait until “10 days after their last menstrual period” and then sleep with the men for three nights in order to conceive. According to Hildegard Truetz, she was sent to a castle in Bavaria, where she and 40 other girls went through the same process. For the SS officers involved, however, things were different. They were obliged to sleep with one woman in the program each day, changing female participants after up to three nights of sleep.

Pregnant women go to maternity homes before giving birth

third The Empire established maternity homes for women who conceived through the Fountain of Life. The leaders of the program strategically placed the houses in European countries occupied by Germany. For example, 10,000 babies are born in Norway alone.

These maternity homes housed two types of women: those who were deliberately impregnated by SS officers, and those who were not formally involved in “life” Unwed mothers of the “Fountain” program, who were recruited to give their children to the SS simply because of their ancestry. These women must provide proof of a family tree of at least three generations of “pure blood”, as well as proof of the same for the child’s father.

Women live in maternity homes until they have children. If the child was “ideal”, the SS would provide care and education, including the option of boarding schools, to facilitate the indoctrination of Nazi ideas.

Government encourages soldiers to be fathers of children born out of wedlock

Nazi Germany’s Concerns about the depopulation of the Orian population were taken so extreme that, while implementing the Fountain of Life program, the German government also forced soldiers to marry any suitable Nordic or Aryan woman, if possible, out of wedlock. Fertility. Men who were unwilling to take care of their children did not have to take responsibility, as the German government had promised to take care of those children the Third Reich considered acceptable.

Among the fathers of all children born and registered with the Norwegian Fountain of Life program, only a small percentage of those fathers ended up marrying those women.

Mothers awarded medal for having more children

From December 16, 1938, nurtured German women with more than 4 children were awarded the medal. There are three different levels of the Mothers’ Cross of Honor: Bronze is awarded to women who have given birth to 4 to 5 children, Silver is awarded to women who have given birth to 6 to 7 children, and Gold is awarded to women who have given birth to 8 or more children .

The title of the medal is variable, meaning that women who go on to have children are eligible for additional medals. They can also lose their medals in cases of marital infidelity, neglect of child care and other social crimes.

Law reform makes it easier for men to divorce and father more children

1938, Germany has reformed marriage laws to make it easier for men to leave their wives in their 40s and 50s, as well as for younger women to leave the family. The reformed marriage law allows a man to divorce without penalty if he has had four or no children with a woman, or has been separated from his wife for three years.

Between 1938 and 1940, there were about 30,000 divorces in Germany, 80% of which were affected by legal changes.

Children born in this project were turned away after the war

The Fountain of Life project resulted in the birth of some 20,000 children, many of whom were ashamed after World War II. In some formerly occupied countries, such as Norway, women who had children with SS members were labelled traitors.

The Norwegian government-in-exile declared the women traitors and tried to deport the children. “We have warned before, and here we reiterate that these women will pay for their actions for the rest of their lives: all Norwegians will despise them for their lack of self-discipline,” said a statement.

Children are discriminated against. Norwegian newspapers warn that these children bear the genetic imprint of the Third Reich. In 1945, a Norwegian government official declared: “To believe that these children will become decent citizens is to believe that the rats in the cellar will become household pets.”

Fountain of Life children, since 2006, openly talk about the program

At the end of World War II, the SS tried to destroy the All records of the “Spring” program. Many children who were forcibly removed never returned to their families. Those who were born in this project are hidden from their pasts, or their origins are unknown to all. The father’s name is blank on the birth certificate, and the mother, who is involved in the project, has also remained silent due to the controversy.

In 2006, children who grew up in the program began to talk about their views on the issue, their personal experiences, and how they were treated because of it.