Lebensborn

In 1935, Germany started a programme to supply the Third Reich with a new generation of leaders and a future elite: Lebensborn ('Source of life'). The architect behind this plan, Heinrich Himmler, intended to use the children born within this programme to 'improve the racial quality' of the population of the newly established Nazi empire. Due to declining birth rates, abortion and birth control methods were banned, while families with children were given financial incentives. And before setting off to the front, SS officers were encouraged to father as many children as possible, also outside of marriage.

In Lebensborn homes spread across Europe, both married and unmarried women who met the characteristics of the 'Aryan race' could give birth to their children. But when it became clear that the programme did not yield the desired results, the Nazis also decided to start kidnapping children from Poland and the former Yugoslavia with blonde hair and blue eyes who they subsequently 'Germanised'. After the war, the children from these homes and their families were often stigmatised and sometimes even assaulted or abused. Many of them grew up surrounded by secrets.

For this project I documented the compelling experiences of nine brave individuals who are now in their eighties. During my research, I came across objects and documents that revealed how, in an eerily orchestrated way, the National-Socialist ideology infiltrated all aspects of the so-called Lebensborn homes. Included in the project are measuring devices that were used to determine 'Aryan' ancestry at that time. I also visited former Lebensborn homes where I made photographs of both the buildings and the surrounding landscapes. Although today all these locations have been repurposed, they will always remain silent witnesses of a turbulent history.