What do you think?
Rate this book
Niemands kind
In 1942 werd de negen maanden oude Erika Matko door SS-artsen weggehaald bij haar ouders uit Joegoslavië. Ze werd ontvoerd naar nazi-Duitsland en opgenomen in Heinrich Himmlers geheime project Lebensborn, het naziprogramma voor ‘germanisering’ van niet-Duitse kinderen. Met haar blonde haren en blauwe ogen was Erika de perfecte kandidaat om een ‘kind van Hitler’ te worden.
Erika groeit op als Ingrid von Oelhafen. Pas op latere leeftijd durft ze de zoektocht naar haar ware identiteit aan. Dan blijkt dat er in haar geboortedorp al die tijd een Erika Matko heeft geleefd; haar naam, haar ouders, haar leven...
Erika groeit op als Ingrid von Oelhafen. Pas op latere leeftijd durft ze de zoektocht naar haar ware identiteit aan. Dan blijkt dat er in haar geboortedorp al die tijd een Erika Matko heeft geleefd; haar naam, haar ouders, haar leven...
288 pages, Paperback
First published May 14, 2015
230 people are currently reading
4721 people want to read
About the author
Ingrid von Oelhafen
5 books16 followersIngrid von Oelhafen is a former physical therapist living in Osnabruck, Germany. For more than 20 years she has been investigating her own extraordinary story and that of Lebensborn. She is in contact with other Lebensborn survivors and has been invited to give talks in schools about the programme and its effects on those who were part of it.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 308 reviews
October 22, 2018
The Lebensborn program was set up to engineer the next generation of "perfect" Germans. Heinrich Himmler wrote the policies for selecting the “best”. When the German army destroyed a city, town, community, they took the "best" blond, blue eyed children, who fit the eugenic metrics of perfect Aryans for Lebensborn.
Lebensborn also sheltered “healthy” unwed mothers who met standards of pure German heredity (forbears to 1800); Many were sweethearts of married SS officers. There were several of these nurseries/adoption facilities in Germany and occupied areas of Europe. Not every child left the home for an adopted family. Those found not to measure up in looks or behavior went to work camps and/or to their death.
Ingrid von Oelhafen first describes her childhood, what she remembers of her “parents” and how she learned of her other identity. When she began her quest to find her birth parents, she had no idea that something like this existed or that this is where she spent the first few months of her life.
She describes the difficulty of getting information, particularly through government sources, even for non-research purposes, like getting a passport. It took many years, but she found others from Lebensborn facilities who were also piecing together their past. She describes “the Father Finder” and how he helped her connect, at last, with what remained of her birth family.
I was, at first, impatient with Ingrid’s story of her childhood, her parent’s separation, leaving East Germany, and living separately with her adoptive mother, then father and mother (again). She never explores why this cold couple would bother to adopt children. Later I saw how important this background was to who she is, and generically, the dynamics of how families kept their secrets in post-war Germany.
There are short histories of the areas of importance, actual letters and documents (translated) of pertinent correspondence and official policies. There stories of other survivors and descriptions of the nurseries from their accounts and other records. There are amazing photographs.
That there are still Lebensborn children alive to tell their stories reminds us that the Nazis and the horrors the brought are not ancient, but recent history.
Lebensborn also sheltered “healthy” unwed mothers who met standards of pure German heredity (forbears to 1800); Many were sweethearts of married SS officers. There were several of these nurseries/adoption facilities in Germany and occupied areas of Europe. Not every child left the home for an adopted family. Those found not to measure up in looks or behavior went to work camps and/or to their death.
Ingrid von Oelhafen first describes her childhood, what she remembers of her “parents” and how she learned of her other identity. When she began her quest to find her birth parents, she had no idea that something like this existed or that this is where she spent the first few months of her life.
She describes the difficulty of getting information, particularly through government sources, even for non-research purposes, like getting a passport. It took many years, but she found others from Lebensborn facilities who were also piecing together their past. She describes “the Father Finder” and how he helped her connect, at last, with what remained of her birth family.
I was, at first, impatient with Ingrid’s story of her childhood, her parent’s separation, leaving East Germany, and living separately with her adoptive mother, then father and mother (again). She never explores why this cold couple would bother to adopt children. Later I saw how important this background was to who she is, and generically, the dynamics of how families kept their secrets in post-war Germany.
There are short histories of the areas of importance, actual letters and documents (translated) of pertinent correspondence and official policies. There stories of other survivors and descriptions of the nurseries from their accounts and other records. There are amazing photographs.
That there are still Lebensborn children alive to tell their stories reminds us that the Nazis and the horrors the brought are not ancient, but recent history.
May 27, 2021
Reading Hitler's Forgotten Children reminded me yet again why I read books. Whether it's fiction or non-fiction, books have great power to educate and inform whilst also encouraging critical thinking. Although I was aware of the Nazi obsession with ‘racial purity', I had never heard of the Lebensborn Programme before reading this book. Initiated by Heinrich Himmler, leader of the SS in 1935, to increase Nazi Germany’s Aryan population, the programme expanded into occupied countries in Eastern Europe where Nazis kidnapped children and sent them to Germany for adoption by ‘racially pure’ families. Ingrid von Oelhafen was one such child and in Hitler’s Forgotten Children she documents her quest to find out where she came from and the impact her background had on her sense of identity.
This is a powerful read and demonstrates that despite the intervening 75 years since the end of WW2, Nazi crimes are still reverberating throughout Europe and indeed around the world. Although reading will incite a myriad of emotions, I think it’s important that we continue to read about and discuss these stories as I firmly believe that knowledge of suffering endured by others can only lead to greater empathy and compassion.
This is a powerful read and demonstrates that despite the intervening 75 years since the end of WW2, Nazi crimes are still reverberating throughout Europe and indeed around the world. Although reading will incite a myriad of emotions, I think it’s important that we continue to read about and discuss these stories as I firmly believe that knowledge of suffering endured by others can only lead to greater empathy and compassion.
April 18, 2020
Only took me a day to read!!!
I enjoyed this biography. Majority of ww2 books have to do with Jewish prisoners in concentration camps. I went on the search to look for a book from the perspective of those that witnessed what was going on around them or how a person experienced that time period from an different perspective.
Hitler’s Forgotten Children is both a harrowing personal memoir and a devastating investigation into the awful crimes and monstrous scope of the Lebensborn program in World War 2.
Created by Heinrich Himmler, the Lebensborn program abducted as many as half a million children from across Europe. Through a process called Germanization, they were to become the next generation of the Aryan master race in the second phase of the Final Solution.
In the summer of 1942, parents across Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia were required to submit their children to medical checks designed to assess racial purity. One such child, Erika Matko, was nine months old when Nazi doctors declared her fit to be a “Child of Hitler.” Taken to Germany and placed with politically vetted foster parents, Erika was renamed Ingrid von Oelhafen. Many years later, Ingrid began to uncover the truth of her identity.
Though the Nazis destroyed many Lebensborn records, Ingrid unearthed rare documents, including Nuremberg trial testimony about her own abduction. Following the evidence back to her place of birth, Ingrid discovered an even more shocking secret: a woman named Erika Matko, who as an infant had been given to Ingrid’s mother as a replacement child.
I enjoyed this biography. Majority of ww2 books have to do with Jewish prisoners in concentration camps. I went on the search to look for a book from the perspective of those that witnessed what was going on around them or how a person experienced that time period from an different perspective.
Hitler’s Forgotten Children is both a harrowing personal memoir and a devastating investigation into the awful crimes and monstrous scope of the Lebensborn program in World War 2.
Created by Heinrich Himmler, the Lebensborn program abducted as many as half a million children from across Europe. Through a process called Germanization, they were to become the next generation of the Aryan master race in the second phase of the Final Solution.
In the summer of 1942, parents across Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia were required to submit their children to medical checks designed to assess racial purity. One such child, Erika Matko, was nine months old when Nazi doctors declared her fit to be a “Child of Hitler.” Taken to Germany and placed with politically vetted foster parents, Erika was renamed Ingrid von Oelhafen. Many years later, Ingrid began to uncover the truth of her identity.
Though the Nazis destroyed many Lebensborn records, Ingrid unearthed rare documents, including Nuremberg trial testimony about her own abduction. Following the evidence back to her place of birth, Ingrid discovered an even more shocking secret: a woman named Erika Matko, who as an infant had been given to Ingrid’s mother as a replacement child.
November 14, 2018
Audiobook # 194
January 2, 2025
ŞANSSIZ HAYATLAR
İngrid von Oelhafen annesini, ailesini arayışını anlatıyor.
Hitler'in savaş makinesi Nasyonal Sosyalist Alman İşçi Partisi'ne asker lazım. Çocuk doğurana para teklif ediliyor. Kadınlar umursamıyor. Parti'ye katılmadan önce tavuk çiftliği işleten Heinrich Himmler'in başını çektiği faşizmin kadrolu entelektüelleri nasıl yapsak da doğumları sağlasak kaygılarıyla 'ari ırkı' hikayesini kuruyorlar, doğumları özendirmek adına da 'gayri meşru çocuklar' için güzelleme yapıyorlar; dinen hiçbir sakıncası yok, üstelik sağlığa yararlı falan... Kadınların kafası karışıyor. Evlilik dışı doğum nasıl normal olabiliyor? Din kırmızı çizgi. Kimse yanaşmıyor tabii. Ne yapalım ne edelim; Parti içinde bu sorunu çözelim: Lebensborn evleri adını verdikleri merkezlerde SS subaylarıyla Partili kadınlardan ari ırkı yapımına girişiliyor. Naziler bu doğum evleriyle yetinmiyor; işgal ettikleri Polonya, Çekoslavakya ve Yugoslavya'dan sarışın mavi gözlü çocukları kaçırıyorlar. Binlerce böyle kaçırılan çocuklardan biri de Yugoslav Erika Matko'ydu. Bebekken kaçırılan Erika Matkon Almanya'da ordu mensubu bir aileye veriliyor, adı da İngrid von Oelhafen olarak değiştiriliyor. Bizler iki dakikada okuyup öğrendiğimiz bu gerçekleri İngrid von Oelhafen bütün birikimlerini harcayarak ancak altmışlı yaşlarında öğrenebiliyor. Fizyoterapist İngrid von Oelhafen'in anlatısı benzersiz! Bayıldım bayıldım. Acısına, öfkesine okurunu da ortak ediyor. Teslim alıyor. Şu yazıyı göndere çektiğim teslim bayrağının altındaki masadan yazdığımı itiraf etmeliyim. Hitler tarihi üzerine bir sürü şey öğrendim. Anlatmamak için kendimi zor tutuyorum. Yukarıda bir şeyler yazdım. Kendi yorumum. Doğru olmayabilir. Önemli mi? Ben burada bilgi sıkmıyorum. Ama anlatmak istiyorum. İngrid öyle bir anlattı ki, içimdeki yazar deliler gibi daktilo tuşluyor. Müttefiklerin hayata geçiremedikleri Almanya planlarını anlatmak isterim mesela. Nazileri en güçlü zamanlarında diz çöktürüp kovalayan Yugoslav gurupların efsane lider Tito'nun ölümünden sonraki dönemde gurup dinamiklerini çalıştırarak saflara ayrışıp iktidarı ele geçirme uğruna iç savaşla birbirlerini yok etmelerini anlatmak isterim. Hapishanenin üzerine kurulu Nurnberg Mahkemeleri' tiyatrosunu anlatmak isterim. İngrid von Oelhafen kendi gündemi çileli arayışı anlatırken bir yandan da Almanya'nın Hitler sonrası ortamını 'dönem romanı' kurarcasına yazmış, günümüz okurlarını-meraklısı dışında-ilgilendirmeyen Hitler konularını birinci sınıf gerilim romanı tadında yazmış; kitabın inanılmaz tarafı hikayenin nasıl sonlanacağını arka kapak yazısından okur zaten biliyor, sürpriz hiçbir şey yok. Ama GERİLİYORSUNUZ. İngrid von Oelhafen yazar değil ki fizyoterapist, tabii ki benzersiz anlatacak ve zihniyle değil duygularını çalıştırarak anlatıyor. Hitler'in Unutulan Çocukları'ndan benim çıkardığım sonuçlardan biri: Savaş, savaş bittikten sonra başlamış. Silahlar susunca ezici duyguların bombardımanı altında kalıyor siviller. Özellikle Alman kadınlar korku, öfke, utanç, suçluluk gibi karanlık duygularla yaşıyorlar. Yüksek dozda acı çekmek onlar için sıradan. Hayatta kalmak şansızlık. Örgütler kurarak, toplantılar yaparak birbirlerine sığınıyorlar. Çoğu evlilik dışı olduğu için utanç duyuyorlar, arayışlarını sosyalleştiremiyorlar. İngrid evlilik dışı değil kaçırılmış, bu konuda rahat ve mücadeleyi zamanla medyaya taşıyor. Almanlaştırılmış İngrid bir Sloven, asıl memleketi Yugoslavya'ya geldiğinde otobüsten bakıp da Yugoslav tarihini özetten geçip anlatıya yedirmesi muhteşem. Nurnberg Mahkemelerinin namı literatürlerde nasıl geçiyor bilmiyorum; tiyatro diyenler var mesela, bu bir iltifat. Hukukun bittiği değil başlamadığı yerdir bu mahkemeler. Arkadaşlar kafalarına göre takılmışlar. Acıları yaşamak kadınlara kalmış. Kocalarını kurşuna dizen komutanları savaş sonrasında belediye başkanı, tarım bakanı, kooperatif başkanı gibi koltuklarda görmüşlerdir. Bu rezaleti kabullenmek kolay olmasa gerek.
Bazen diyorum ki Alman edebiyatçılar gerilim kurmada çok iyiler, sonra da diyorum ki hazır malzemelerle çalışıyorlar veya öykünüyorlar ve bu malzemelerin kendisi zaten gerilim, yazınsal açıdan bir şey katmana gerek yok, malzemeyi yaz yeter. 1950'lerden itibaren özellikle Almanya'da herkesin acı verici bir hikayesi var. Düşünebiliyor musun? Berlin düşmüş. Savunmasız Alman kadınları Berlin'i paylaşan müttefik orduların ortasında kalıyor. İngrid'in anlattıklarına bakılırsa kadınlar tecavüze uğruyor. Özellikle Rus askerleri kayıplarının acısını kadınlardan çıkarıyor. Kosinski'nin Boyalı Kuş'da anlattığı gibi iyi kalpli Rus askerleri falan ortada görünmüyor pek. İngrid'in Alman ailesi Berlin''e yakın bir kırsalda yaşıyor. Annesi Rus korkusundan yatağın altında yatıyor. Günler geçtikçe korku büyüyor. Çıldırmaya yakın evden kaçıyor kadın, iki çocuğunu da alıp güvenli bir bölgeye gidiyor. İngrid'i yetimhaneye bırakıp tüyüyor. İngrid bu duruma anlam veremiyor. İyi ama neden? Beni neden sevmiyor? İngrid yıllarca bu soruya cevap arıyor.
İngrid von Oelhafen annesini, ailesini arayışını anlatıyor.
Hitler'in savaş makinesi Nasyonal Sosyalist Alman İşçi Partisi'ne asker lazım. Çocuk doğurana para teklif ediliyor. Kadınlar umursamıyor. Parti'ye katılmadan önce tavuk çiftliği işleten Heinrich Himmler'in başını çektiği faşizmin kadrolu entelektüelleri nasıl yapsak da doğumları sağlasak kaygılarıyla 'ari ırkı' hikayesini kuruyorlar, doğumları özendirmek adına da 'gayri meşru çocuklar' için güzelleme yapıyorlar; dinen hiçbir sakıncası yok, üstelik sağlığa yararlı falan... Kadınların kafası karışıyor. Evlilik dışı doğum nasıl normal olabiliyor? Din kırmızı çizgi. Kimse yanaşmıyor tabii. Ne yapalım ne edelim; Parti içinde bu sorunu çözelim: Lebensborn evleri adını verdikleri merkezlerde SS subaylarıyla Partili kadınlardan ari ırkı yapımına girişiliyor. Naziler bu doğum evleriyle yetinmiyor; işgal ettikleri Polonya, Çekoslavakya ve Yugoslavya'dan sarışın mavi gözlü çocukları kaçırıyorlar. Binlerce böyle kaçırılan çocuklardan biri de Yugoslav Erika Matko'ydu. Bebekken kaçırılan Erika Matkon Almanya'da ordu mensubu bir aileye veriliyor, adı da İngrid von Oelhafen olarak değiştiriliyor. Bizler iki dakikada okuyup öğrendiğimiz bu gerçekleri İngrid von Oelhafen bütün birikimlerini harcayarak ancak altmışlı yaşlarında öğrenebiliyor. Fizyoterapist İngrid von Oelhafen'in anlatısı benzersiz! Bayıldım bayıldım. Acısına, öfkesine okurunu da ortak ediyor. Teslim alıyor. Şu yazıyı göndere çektiğim teslim bayrağının altındaki masadan yazdığımı itiraf etmeliyim. Hitler tarihi üzerine bir sürü şey öğrendim. Anlatmamak için kendimi zor tutuyorum. Yukarıda bir şeyler yazdım. Kendi yorumum. Doğru olmayabilir. Önemli mi? Ben burada bilgi sıkmıyorum. Ama anlatmak istiyorum. İngrid öyle bir anlattı ki, içimdeki yazar deliler gibi daktilo tuşluyor. Müttefiklerin hayata geçiremedikleri Almanya planlarını anlatmak isterim mesela. Nazileri en güçlü zamanlarında diz çöktürüp kovalayan Yugoslav gurupların efsane lider Tito'nun ölümünden sonraki dönemde gurup dinamiklerini çalıştırarak saflara ayrışıp iktidarı ele geçirme uğruna iç savaşla birbirlerini yok etmelerini anlatmak isterim. Hapishanenin üzerine kurulu Nurnberg Mahkemeleri' tiyatrosunu anlatmak isterim. İngrid von Oelhafen kendi gündemi çileli arayışı anlatırken bir yandan da Almanya'nın Hitler sonrası ortamını 'dönem romanı' kurarcasına yazmış, günümüz okurlarını-meraklısı dışında-ilgilendirmeyen Hitler konularını birinci sınıf gerilim romanı tadında yazmış; kitabın inanılmaz tarafı hikayenin nasıl sonlanacağını arka kapak yazısından okur zaten biliyor, sürpriz hiçbir şey yok. Ama GERİLİYORSUNUZ. İngrid von Oelhafen yazar değil ki fizyoterapist, tabii ki benzersiz anlatacak ve zihniyle değil duygularını çalıştırarak anlatıyor. Hitler'in Unutulan Çocukları'ndan benim çıkardığım sonuçlardan biri: Savaş, savaş bittikten sonra başlamış. Silahlar susunca ezici duyguların bombardımanı altında kalıyor siviller. Özellikle Alman kadınlar korku, öfke, utanç, suçluluk gibi karanlık duygularla yaşıyorlar. Yüksek dozda acı çekmek onlar için sıradan. Hayatta kalmak şansızlık. Örgütler kurarak, toplantılar yaparak birbirlerine sığınıyorlar. Çoğu evlilik dışı olduğu için utanç duyuyorlar, arayışlarını sosyalleştiremiyorlar. İngrid evlilik dışı değil kaçırılmış, bu konuda rahat ve mücadeleyi zamanla medyaya taşıyor. Almanlaştırılmış İngrid bir Sloven, asıl memleketi Yugoslavya'ya geldiğinde otobüsten bakıp da Yugoslav tarihini özetten geçip anlatıya yedirmesi muhteşem. Nurnberg Mahkemelerinin namı literatürlerde nasıl geçiyor bilmiyorum; tiyatro diyenler var mesela, bu bir iltifat. Hukukun bittiği değil başlamadığı yerdir bu mahkemeler. Arkadaşlar kafalarına göre takılmışlar. Acıları yaşamak kadınlara kalmış. Kocalarını kurşuna dizen komutanları savaş sonrasında belediye başkanı, tarım bakanı, kooperatif başkanı gibi koltuklarda görmüşlerdir. Bu rezaleti kabullenmek kolay olmasa gerek.
Bazen diyorum ki Alman edebiyatçılar gerilim kurmada çok iyiler, sonra da diyorum ki hazır malzemelerle çalışıyorlar veya öykünüyorlar ve bu malzemelerin kendisi zaten gerilim, yazınsal açıdan bir şey katmana gerek yok, malzemeyi yaz yeter. 1950'lerden itibaren özellikle Almanya'da herkesin acı verici bir hikayesi var. Düşünebiliyor musun? Berlin düşmüş. Savunmasız Alman kadınları Berlin'i paylaşan müttefik orduların ortasında kalıyor. İngrid'in anlattıklarına bakılırsa kadınlar tecavüze uğruyor. Özellikle Rus askerleri kayıplarının acısını kadınlardan çıkarıyor. Kosinski'nin Boyalı Kuş'da anlattığı gibi iyi kalpli Rus askerleri falan ortada görünmüyor pek. İngrid'in Alman ailesi Berlin''e yakın bir kırsalda yaşıyor. Annesi Rus korkusundan yatağın altında yatıyor. Günler geçtikçe korku büyüyor. Çıldırmaya yakın evden kaçıyor kadın, iki çocuğunu da alıp güvenli bir bölgeye gidiyor. İngrid'i yetimhaneye bırakıp tüyüyor. İngrid bu duruma anlam veremiyor. İyi ama neden? Beni neden sevmiyor? İngrid yıllarca bu soruya cevap arıyor.
December 21, 2016
This is the story of a woman who as a child was taken from her parents and given in adoption to a German couple. This is the story of a regime that stained Europe from 1939 to 1945, this is a story of Nazi Germany. She was the victim of "germanization" a word coined by Himmler himself (Hitler's second on command). Kids who looked Aryan were to be taken from families all over occupied Europe and be given to German families to be raised in Nazi Ideals, This was policy back then. In this book we wont see to much feeling because the author stays away from that and the story is told from an objective point of view, in the book we will see the name Hitler, Himmler, Nazis, SS, Partisans, Communism and Cold War appear all over, This is the story of a woman who was victim of the Nazi Legacy, this is the story of a continent who still bears the scars of that time. this is the story of a group of people who share the same tragic background, This is a story you should read if you want to understand modern Europe.
May 9, 2016
What is identity? How is it formed? And does identity shape the person-or is it the other way around?
Noticed this book at the library and I had never heard of Lebensborn so I picked it up thinking it was a traditional history book but it is more of a memoir with moments of historical references included as the author attempts to learn the truth of her past.
It is still a little murky to me how the program started and some of this may stem from the lack of real documentation regarding the beginning. Whether it was a way to help unwed mothers, as initially alluded to, or a "stud farm" for SS officers, over time it morphed in to a scheme to advance the Aryan race and eventually an avenue to kidnap children of those conquered in the Nazi rise.
Plenty of reminders of just how abhorrent the Nazi regime was, especially those at the top.
From an SS "baptism"
Ruthild told me that she and other children underwent a quasi-religious naming ceremony in which they were dedicated to Hitler and the brotherhood of the SS.
This Namensgebung ritual was a distorted version of the traditional Christian baptism, with an altar draped in a swastika flag and with a bust or a photo of the Fuhrer in pride of place. In front of a congregation made up of Lebensborn staff and black-uniformed SS officers, mothers like Ruthild’s promised that their children would be raised as good National Socialists; they then handed over their babies to an SS man who intoned a “blessing”. Then an SS dagger was held over the baby and the senior officer intoned a formal welcome to the brotherhood of the SS.
We take you into our community as a limb of our body. You shall grow up in our protection and bring honour to your name, pride to your brotherhood and inextinguishable glory to your race.
A portion of a speech made by Himmler in October 1943
I consider that in dealing with members of a foreign country, especially some Slav nationality, we must not start from German points of view and we must not endow these people with decent German thoughts and logical conclusions of which they are not capable, but we must take them as they really are.
Obviously in such a mixture of peoples there will always be some racially good types. Therefore I think that it is our duty to take their children with us, to remove them from their environments, if necessary by robbing or stealing them. Either we win over any good blood that we can use for ourselves, and give it a place in our people, or we destroy this blood.
When the Lebensborn program didn't work as planned i.e. more German babies, it began to morph in to a way for the Nazis to try and increase the population by kidnapping children in the areas they over ran. So using the above quote from Himmler, the Nazis embarked on a Eugenics type culling of children in the occupied areas to weed out the undesirables and keep those children who fit their ideal and place them in Lebensborn homes.
All these moments are revealed as the author tries to unravel the mysteries of her past and struggles over the years to find others who, like her, were taken from their parents by the Nazis.
7/10
Noticed this book at the library and I had never heard of Lebensborn so I picked it up thinking it was a traditional history book but it is more of a memoir with moments of historical references included as the author attempts to learn the truth of her past.
It is still a little murky to me how the program started and some of this may stem from the lack of real documentation regarding the beginning. Whether it was a way to help unwed mothers, as initially alluded to, or a "stud farm" for SS officers, over time it morphed in to a scheme to advance the Aryan race and eventually an avenue to kidnap children of those conquered in the Nazi rise.
Plenty of reminders of just how abhorrent the Nazi regime was, especially those at the top.
From an SS "baptism"
Ruthild told me that she and other children underwent a quasi-religious naming ceremony in which they were dedicated to Hitler and the brotherhood of the SS.
This Namensgebung ritual was a distorted version of the traditional Christian baptism, with an altar draped in a swastika flag and with a bust or a photo of the Fuhrer in pride of place. In front of a congregation made up of Lebensborn staff and black-uniformed SS officers, mothers like Ruthild’s promised that their children would be raised as good National Socialists; they then handed over their babies to an SS man who intoned a “blessing”. Then an SS dagger was held over the baby and the senior officer intoned a formal welcome to the brotherhood of the SS.
We take you into our community as a limb of our body. You shall grow up in our protection and bring honour to your name, pride to your brotherhood and inextinguishable glory to your race.
A portion of a speech made by Himmler in October 1943
I consider that in dealing with members of a foreign country, especially some Slav nationality, we must not start from German points of view and we must not endow these people with decent German thoughts and logical conclusions of which they are not capable, but we must take them as they really are.
Obviously in such a mixture of peoples there will always be some racially good types. Therefore I think that it is our duty to take their children with us, to remove them from their environments, if necessary by robbing or stealing them. Either we win over any good blood that we can use for ourselves, and give it a place in our people, or we destroy this blood.
When the Lebensborn program didn't work as planned i.e. more German babies, it began to morph in to a way for the Nazis to try and increase the population by kidnapping children in the areas they over ran. So using the above quote from Himmler, the Nazis embarked on a Eugenics type culling of children in the occupied areas to weed out the undesirables and keep those children who fit their ideal and place them in Lebensborn homes.
All these moments are revealed as the author tries to unravel the mysteries of her past and struggles over the years to find others who, like her, were taken from their parents by the Nazis.
7/10
April 2, 2017
There are hidden depths to the depravity of the Nazis. Their belief that Aryan blood was the highest ideal of race caused them to systematically steal children from occupied areas to be raised by "Good Germans." They used their belief in blood and race to label some as "Untermenschen" or less than human so they could justify slavery and extermination. They used blood as an excuse for systematic rape.
This personal journey in Lebensborn is painful but a story that needs to be told.
This personal journey in Lebensborn is painful but a story that needs to be told.
November 18, 2019
WOW! You have to read this book for yourself! It is eye-opening and powerful. A well told account of how many lives were impacted during Hitler’s reign and how the long the aftermath of it all has played out. An incredible book!
August 12, 2017
The Lesenborn experiments were one of the less widely known events in the nazi era; young children were snatched from their families to be examined for the purposes of creating a master race. As Hitler eliminated those not worthy in concentration camps, his troops were assisting him in increasing the German aryan population through any means possible.
This is just one account of thousands by a woman who was taken as a baby and placed with a foster family. The authors subsequent struggle to find her real identity and surviving relatives is the story that follows. Some of the book details the history of the SS and its prime members, but much of the story is hers and how she has dealt with the legacy of her early years. I found it upsetting to read that she has always struggled with relationships and consequently has never married or had children herself.
An interesting read for history buffs in particular.
This is just one account of thousands by a woman who was taken as a baby and placed with a foster family. The authors subsequent struggle to find her real identity and surviving relatives is the story that follows. Some of the book details the history of the SS and its prime members, but much of the story is hers and how she has dealt with the legacy of her early years. I found it upsetting to read that she has always struggled with relationships and consequently has never married or had children herself.
An interesting read for history buffs in particular.
July 11, 2015
Hitler’s Forgotten Children
Anyone who has seen Les Mis knows the Jean Valjean song ‘Who Am I?’ and it is a question we all ask ourselves at some point in our own lives, but when you come from a Central Eastern European country it sometimes can take you down paths you did not know exist. Coming from a Polish family that suffered at the hands of Nazi and Soviet alike and brought up with the horrors of what both did to the people from the Polish Baltic down to Yugoslavia in the south, the Jew and Slav were victims, some more than others.
Like most Eastern European families, those who have had to live in a country other than that of their forefathers since 1945 for various reasons, where were brought up on the rumours and knowledge of the Russians committed crimes at Katyn (which they still try and deny) and that the Nazis stole babies away from their mothers across Eastern Europe but never really understood why.
Hitler’s Forgotten Children is Ingrid von Oelhafen version of that age old question of who am I? Even more so when she discovered that she was an unwitting part of the Lebensborn programme created by Himmler and that the Nazis had done everything they could to destroy her true identity. This is her journey in to finding who she really was as well as an examination of Lebensborn a much forgotten Nazi pogrom to create more ‘Aryan’ children that had been born to people who were ‘substandard’.
To those who think they know much about what happened during the Second World War tend not to know much about Lebensborn, and this is part memoir, part history lesson. This is an important book that will guide you through what was and still is a hideous pogrom whose children are still coming to terms with it today.
Lebensborn is the name of the pogrom that Himmler created for children that were born to Slavic women but were ‘blonde haired and blue eyed’ clearly a freak of nature and had to be taken from them and placed with good ‘Aryan’ families in Germany. Lebensborn shows the obsession that the Nazis had with blood lines and racial purity and this book covers all aspects of this terrible history.
What we learn from this book is the Ingrid felt dislocated from her German family and how she was dumped in a children’s home after the escape from the Soviet zones in Germany after the war. Her and her ‘brother’ dumped there by her good German ‘mother’. It is only after the end of the cold war and the end of the divided Germany did the facts start to be revealed and that Ingrid found that she was a Lebensborn child. From there started a painful but important journey and how shocking it is when you see the bureaucracy and the state secrecy that stopped her discovering the truth about herself.
Hitler’s Forgotten Children is part memoir part history lesson that many who think they know about the Nazis will be shocked at. One has to remember that these babies were stolen during the war and are in the 70s now and some are coming to terms and some just cannot come to terms with their status. They are still unwitting victims today and reading Ingrid von Oelhafen’s account you will find a well written well researched and knowledgeable account, written with compassion.
This is a one of a number of dark periods of European history and this is still going on today as Europe has still come to terms with the effects of war and being divided. Think how hard it must be to know that most of your life has been a lie and the one you should have had was stolen from you in the aid of ‘racial purity’.
Anyone who has seen Les Mis knows the Jean Valjean song ‘Who Am I?’ and it is a question we all ask ourselves at some point in our own lives, but when you come from a Central Eastern European country it sometimes can take you down paths you did not know exist. Coming from a Polish family that suffered at the hands of Nazi and Soviet alike and brought up with the horrors of what both did to the people from the Polish Baltic down to Yugoslavia in the south, the Jew and Slav were victims, some more than others.
Like most Eastern European families, those who have had to live in a country other than that of their forefathers since 1945 for various reasons, where were brought up on the rumours and knowledge of the Russians committed crimes at Katyn (which they still try and deny) and that the Nazis stole babies away from their mothers across Eastern Europe but never really understood why.
Hitler’s Forgotten Children is Ingrid von Oelhafen version of that age old question of who am I? Even more so when she discovered that she was an unwitting part of the Lebensborn programme created by Himmler and that the Nazis had done everything they could to destroy her true identity. This is her journey in to finding who she really was as well as an examination of Lebensborn a much forgotten Nazi pogrom to create more ‘Aryan’ children that had been born to people who were ‘substandard’.
To those who think they know much about what happened during the Second World War tend not to know much about Lebensborn, and this is part memoir, part history lesson. This is an important book that will guide you through what was and still is a hideous pogrom whose children are still coming to terms with it today.
Lebensborn is the name of the pogrom that Himmler created for children that were born to Slavic women but were ‘blonde haired and blue eyed’ clearly a freak of nature and had to be taken from them and placed with good ‘Aryan’ families in Germany. Lebensborn shows the obsession that the Nazis had with blood lines and racial purity and this book covers all aspects of this terrible history.
What we learn from this book is the Ingrid felt dislocated from her German family and how she was dumped in a children’s home after the escape from the Soviet zones in Germany after the war. Her and her ‘brother’ dumped there by her good German ‘mother’. It is only after the end of the cold war and the end of the divided Germany did the facts start to be revealed and that Ingrid found that she was a Lebensborn child. From there started a painful but important journey and how shocking it is when you see the bureaucracy and the state secrecy that stopped her discovering the truth about herself.
Hitler’s Forgotten Children is part memoir part history lesson that many who think they know about the Nazis will be shocked at. One has to remember that these babies were stolen during the war and are in the 70s now and some are coming to terms and some just cannot come to terms with their status. They are still unwitting victims today and reading Ingrid von Oelhafen’s account you will find a well written well researched and knowledgeable account, written with compassion.
This is a one of a number of dark periods of European history and this is still going on today as Europe has still come to terms with the effects of war and being divided. Think how hard it must be to know that most of your life has been a lie and the one you should have had was stolen from you in the aid of ‘racial purity’.
March 11, 2016
I've read more than my fair share of Holocaust literature but this is the first time I read about Himmler's top secret Lebensborn program which aimed to cultivate the next generation of Aryan children to reverse the trend of declining population of Germany. Young children were either adopted from unmarried pure blood Germans or kidnapped in the Nazi occupied territories if they passed "scientific" Aryan tests. This is a real account of Ingrid Von Oelhafen's search to find her origins after she was kidnapped by the Nazi's in Yugoslavia during the war and sent to live with foster parents in Germany. There were many fascinating aspects of this memoir including how difficult daily life was immediately following the war and how much shame Lebensborn continues to have on the German psyche.
March 27, 2020
Firstly, it’s always really hard to write my thoughts on a memoir, much less one from WWII. However, I don’t feel the need to sugar coat my thoughts around the story telling while accepting the story itself as important.
The story — incredible and heart breaking.
The writing — beyond challenging in ways I wasn’t prepared for. There was a lot of prolonging the revelation of the ‘secret’. There was a bit of a call for sympathy for Germany after peace that was challenging. There were some other bits that I found some problems with that were superficial. The last rage moment was after the author explained she wasn’t being melodramatic for expressing a particular emotional moment. I don’t think anyone in their right mind would question anyone having loud feelings around the war and her particular experience.
The story — incredible and heart breaking.
The writing — beyond challenging in ways I wasn’t prepared for. There was a lot of prolonging the revelation of the ‘secret’. There was a bit of a call for sympathy for Germany after peace that was challenging. There were some other bits that I found some problems with that were superficial. The last rage moment was after the author explained she wasn’t being melodramatic for expressing a particular emotional moment. I don’t think anyone in their right mind would question anyone having loud feelings around the war and her particular experience.
May 17, 2020
The experiences of the woman in this book are heart wrenching. At times you can cry and at times you are angry. If you didn’t know it was the truth you would never believe that it could ever have happened. Definitely worth reading.
June 15, 2025
Книгата е доста поучителна и засяга проекта Lebensborn, който се развива в Германия по време на Втората световна война. Авторката говори от първо лице за своите преживявания по това време (и през целия си живот след това).
Беше ми интересно да науча за този проект като допълнение към всички останали зверства, които се случват тогава. Очаквах обаче книгата да е по-скоро под формата на роман, а не толкова да наподобява на репортаж.
Беше ми интересно да науча за този проект като допълнение към всички останали зверства, които се случват тогава. Очаквах обаче книгата да е по-скоро под формата на роман, а не толкова да наподобява на репортаж.
February 9, 2016
A good combination of history and personal facts. The facts of Ingrid's childhood were few, but it just needed a very good editor to make it into a good book. A very sad story, but it's important that this side of Nazis is also revealed to the big audience. What just wonders me is Ingrid's brother Dietmar. After he was taken into foster care, Ingrid stops talking about him and doesn't seem to want to know what happened to him. She thought him to be his real brother for years and then just forgets him. Really? Why wasn't she at least interested in finding out if Dietmar was also a Lebenborn? But no, she wasn't and it makes me wonder what's behind this mystery.
April 26, 2021
3.5 Stars
Review to follow
Review to follow
Want to read
April 18, 2020Because now I have time to read I need to inaugurate my non-fiction shelf. I rarely read nonfic, but this sounds gory and with it's a little luck it'll be like one of my favorite seinen series: Monster by Naoki Urusuwa.
Wish me luck!!!
Wish me luck!!!
June 5, 2017
Fascinating and harrowing, Hitler's Forgotten Children informed me about a portion of the Holocaust which I knew next to nothing about. A brave and heartfelt account, whose openness and honesty is at equal turns rather charming and heartbreaking.
November 22, 2015
I consider myself pretty well read on the atrocities and barbarism of Nazi Germany but it seems there are depths to the warped and twisted mindset still waiting to be fully brought into the light. Ingrid von Oelhafen's harrowing journey to discover the truth about herself uncovered layer upon layer about the Lebensborn that is the stuff of nightmares. With so many of her birth family and foster family dead many questions remain unanswered but she, at least has finally found some peace of mind and certainty.
April 18, 2019
"The lesson of history is that no one learns the lesson of history. It is time we begin."
Never knew about the Lebensborn Program. Saw this at my local library and decided to read it. Glad I did. Can you imagine growing up thinking you know who you are, only to find out you're someone else? In 1942, the parents in Yugoslavia were required to submit their children to medical checks for assessment of racial purity. One woman goes on a journey to discover who she is and along the way discovers herself. A true story of the Lebensborn Program.
Never knew about the Lebensborn Program. Saw this at my local library and decided to read it. Glad I did. Can you imagine growing up thinking you know who you are, only to find out you're someone else? In 1942, the parents in Yugoslavia were required to submit their children to medical checks for assessment of racial purity. One woman goes on a journey to discover who she is and along the way discovers herself. A true story of the Lebensborn Program.
July 26, 2017
Not as engaging as I had hoped. Still interesting, but lacked proper depth
October 27, 2021
DNF … Not very well written, and some passages sounded outright stilted. I get that the book is a memoir, but I like my historical facts researched in depth by … well, historians. As a German myself, albeit of the second generation after the war, I find it hard to believe that Ingrid had never heard of the Lebensborn before.
Read
May 29, 2018Kimlik nedir, kimliğimizi genlerimiz mi şekillendirir, içinde yaşadığımız toplum mu?
Lebensborn programına dâhil olduğunu seneler sonra öğrenip geçmişini, kimliğini aramaya çıkan bir kadının gözünden yaşananlar...
Lebensborn programına dâhil olduğunu seneler sonra öğrenip geçmişini, kimliğini aramaya çıkan bir kadının gözünden yaşananlar...
August 13, 2019
To nie jest zwykła książka o wojnie. To nie jest autobiografia taka jak wszystkie. To nie jest łatwa lektura.
Ingrid Von Oelhafen przez większą część życia sądziła, że jest biedną niemiecką sierotą, która w jeszcze w czasie wojny - po śmierci rodziców - została przygarnięta przez rodzinę zastępczą. Dali jej nazwisko, dach na głową. Nie dali uczucia; uczucia, do którego potem przez całe swoje życie Ingrid rozpaczliwie lgnęła. Wszystko zmieniło się pod koniec lat 90., gdy miała już ponad 50 lat. Jeden telefon, kilka starych dokumentów zmieniło wszystko.
Ingrid dostała w twarz informacją, kalibru której nie sposób wręcz zmieżyć. Oto bowiem okazało się, że do Niemiec trafiła jako kilkumiesięczne niemowlę siłą wyrwane z objęć matki. Czemu? Bo miała odpowiednio "aryjski" wygląd.
Książka jest opowieścią Ingrid o jej poszukiwaniach tożsamości. O poszukiwaniach odpowiedzi na podstawowe pytania, które każdy z nas zna już jako kilkuletnie dziecko - skąd jestem? Kim są moi rodzice? Kim jestem ja? Ingrid z przerażeniem zdała sobie sprawę, że jako dojrzała kobieta na krótko przed emeryturą ciągle nie jest w stanie odpowiedzieć na żadne z nich.
Obok jej historii poznajemy też jednak dobrze historię powojennych Niemiec. My - Polacy - rzadko myślimy o Niemcach w tych ostatnich jej chwilach, o tym co przyniosły naszym sąsiadom lata 40. i 50. Nie chcemy o tym myśleć, mówimy tylko "dobrze im tak, to za to co nam zrobili!". Ingrid z pełną świadomością przyjmuje na siebie - i na barki swojego kraju - odpowiedzialność za to, co spotkało ludzi z rąk hitlerowców. Otwarcie przyznaje "tak, podczas wojny żyło mi się dobrze". Mówi jednak też, że to, co przyszło wraz z końcem wojny było dla Niemców takich jak ona - dzieci, cywilów, kobiet - najstraszniejszym koszmarem. Bombardowania zrównały miasta z ziemią, wiele z nich było zniszczonych w ponad 70%. Gwałt nie był niczym nietypowym. Kobiet nie pytano, czy zostały zgwałcone, tylko ile razy do tego doszło.
Kompletnie nie wiem jak ją zakwalifikować. To autobiografia? Reportaż (historyczny?)? Wydaje mi się, że pozycja ta przeszła u nas bez echa, a to wielka szkoda, bo naprawdę pozwala spojrzeć na wojnę - na Niemcy - na ludzi z zupełnie innej perspektywy.
Nie będę Wam polecać, bo to nie łatwa lektura, którą przyjemnie poczytać do popołudniowej kawki. Jest bolesna i daje do myślenia. Jeśli tego właśnie poszukujecie, to trafiliście idealnie.
Ingrid Von Oelhafen przez większą część życia sądziła, że jest biedną niemiecką sierotą, która w jeszcze w czasie wojny - po śmierci rodziców - została przygarnięta przez rodzinę zastępczą. Dali jej nazwisko, dach na głową. Nie dali uczucia; uczucia, do którego potem przez całe swoje życie Ingrid rozpaczliwie lgnęła. Wszystko zmieniło się pod koniec lat 90., gdy miała już ponad 50 lat. Jeden telefon, kilka starych dokumentów zmieniło wszystko.
Ingrid dostała w twarz informacją, kalibru której nie sposób wręcz zmieżyć. Oto bowiem okazało się, że do Niemiec trafiła jako kilkumiesięczne niemowlę siłą wyrwane z objęć matki. Czemu? Bo miała odpowiednio "aryjski" wygląd.
Książka jest opowieścią Ingrid o jej poszukiwaniach tożsamości. O poszukiwaniach odpowiedzi na podstawowe pytania, które każdy z nas zna już jako kilkuletnie dziecko - skąd jestem? Kim są moi rodzice? Kim jestem ja? Ingrid z przerażeniem zdała sobie sprawę, że jako dojrzała kobieta na krótko przed emeryturą ciągle nie jest w stanie odpowiedzieć na żadne z nich.
Obok jej historii poznajemy też jednak dobrze historię powojennych Niemiec. My - Polacy - rzadko myślimy o Niemcach w tych ostatnich jej chwilach, o tym co przyniosły naszym sąsiadom lata 40. i 50. Nie chcemy o tym myśleć, mówimy tylko "dobrze im tak, to za to co nam zrobili!". Ingrid z pełną świadomością przyjmuje na siebie - i na barki swojego kraju - odpowiedzialność za to, co spotkało ludzi z rąk hitlerowców. Otwarcie przyznaje "tak, podczas wojny żyło mi się dobrze". Mówi jednak też, że to, co przyszło wraz z końcem wojny było dla Niemców takich jak ona - dzieci, cywilów, kobiet - najstraszniejszym koszmarem. Bombardowania zrównały miasta z ziemią, wiele z nich było zniszczonych w ponad 70%. Gwałt nie był niczym nietypowym. Kobiet nie pytano, czy zostały zgwałcone, tylko ile razy do tego doszło.
Kompletnie nie wiem jak ją zakwalifikować. To autobiografia? Reportaż (historyczny?)? Wydaje mi się, że pozycja ta przeszła u nas bez echa, a to wielka szkoda, bo naprawdę pozwala spojrzeć na wojnę - na Niemcy - na ludzi z zupełnie innej perspektywy.
Nie będę Wam polecać, bo to nie łatwa lektura, którą przyjemnie poczytać do popołudniowej kawki. Jest bolesna i daje do myślenia. Jeśli tego właśnie poszukujecie, to trafiliście idealnie.
April 5, 2022
Oh my goodness, what a beautiful book! Part memoir, part history, I learned so much that I didn’t know I didn’t know about WWII and post-WWII history. I had never even heard of the Lebensborn program and the mass kidnappings that occurred to “Germanize” blond-haired blue-eyed children from occupied countries. What living in post-WWII Germany looked like depending on which Allied country controlled area you lived in. The heart-breaking but resilient story of Ingrid von Oelhafen and all she overcame to find the truth about who she truly is and where she came from. How she wrestled with knowing that she won the “racial lottery” that lead her to the only life she’s ever known, but in turn, never knowing her parents or her homeland or even language. She takes the reader on a journey to discover who she was, where she came from, the family she lost, gained, never knew, and finds again. All in all, a powerful story and a good reminder of what disgusting atrocities humankind is capable of, and how we need to continue to acknowledge and praise our differences, and always be seeking peace.
Follow me on IG @whatsissyreading.
Follow me on IG @whatsissyreading.
October 3, 2021
I loved this book but I do love a memoir. Following along as you learn how Ingrid learns about who she really is had me just captivated.
I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in history and real life stories.
I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in history and real life stories.
December 22, 2022
3.5-4.0 stars. The information and story are heartbreaking and indescribable. This is my first book about Lebensborn and what happened to those children & families. So sad and so hard to comprehend.
This is written straight forward like a documentary.
This is written straight forward like a documentary.
March 7, 2020
Too often one reads of the crimes of the Nazis (and others) in the abstract. This book tells the story of the German Lebensborn ('life spring') organization which was devoted to the upbringing of good Aryan children. Some were the children of unwed mothers, willing participants. Others were racially acceptable children stolen from their families. This is the story of one of the latter and of her seventy-year quest to learn her true origins. Simply told, it is profoundly moving.
December 16, 2018
DNF- I tried to read it but 3/4 of the way through, I struggled 1) the writing was hard to follow, it didn't flow smoothly, just like that author is speaking is how she wrote the book. 2) it feels drawn out. I don't really care how she felt every moment of the search, I get that she's anxious but to know that constantly and to repeat it every time she gets new info... I think it's implied after the 2 times that its mentioned.
However, I did find this book interesting in the fact that is gave details of the SS and himmler that I never knew before. I also have never heard of the lebensborn program before.
However, I did find this book interesting in the fact that is gave details of the SS and himmler that I never knew before. I also have never heard of the lebensborn program before.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 308 reviews