The Lebensborn project is founded - 1935
The Lebensborn e. V. (eingetragener Verein, "registered association"), meaning fount of life, was founded on 12 December 1935 to counteract falling birth rates in Germany, and to promote Nazi eugenics. Located in Munich, the organization was partly an office within the Schutzstaffel (SS) responsible for certain family welfare programs, and partly a society for Nazi leaders.
On 13 September 1936, Himmler wrote the following to members of the SS:
In 1939, membership stood at 8,000, of which 3,500 were SS leaders. The Lebensborn office was part of SS Rasse und Siedlungshauptamt (SS Office of Race and Settlement) until 1938, when it was transferred to Hauptamt Persönlicher Stab Reichsführer-SS (Personal Staff of the Reich Leader SS), i.e. directly overseen by Himmler. Leaders of Lebensborn e. V. were SS-Standartenführer Max Sollmann and SS-Oberführer Dr. Gregor Ebner.
Initially set up in Germany in 1935, Lebensborn expanded into several occupied European countries with Germanic population during the Second World War. It included the selection of "racially worthy" orphans for adoption and the birth of children from Aryan love interests of SS-members. It was not intended for children between common soldiers and foreign women, because there was no proof of racial purity on both sides.
At the Nuremberg Trials no evidence was found of direct involvement by the Lebensborn organization in the kidnapping of thousands of Polish children who were subjected to "Germanisation" by sending them to re-education camps and fostering them out to German families. This project, also directed by Himmler, was carried out by other segments of the Nazi bureaucracy.
On 13 September 1936, Himmler wrote the following to members of the SS:
The organisation "Lebensborn e.V." serves the SS leaders in the selection and adoption of qualified children. The organisation "Lebensborn e.V." is under my personal direction, is part of the race and settlement central bureau of the SS, and has the following obligations:It is the honourable duty of all leaders of the central bureau to become members of the organisation "Lebensborn e.V.". The application for admission must be filed prior to 23 September 1936.
- 1. Support racially, biologically and hereditarily valuable families with many children.
- 2. Place and care for racially, biologically and hereditarily valuable pregnant women, who, after thorough examination of their and the progenitor's families by the Race and Settlement Central Bureau of the SS, can be expected to produce equally valuable children.
- 3. Care for the children.
- 4. Care for the children's mothers.
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| A Lebensborn birth house |
In 1939, membership stood at 8,000, of which 3,500 were SS leaders. The Lebensborn office was part of SS Rasse und Siedlungshauptamt (SS Office of Race and Settlement) until 1938, when it was transferred to Hauptamt Persönlicher Stab Reichsführer-SS (Personal Staff of the Reich Leader SS), i.e. directly overseen by Himmler. Leaders of Lebensborn e. V. were SS-Standartenführer Max Sollmann and SS-Oberführer Dr. Gregor Ebner.
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| Photo showing a child's baptism (christening) ceremony/ritual; conducted by members of the SS at a "Lebensborn e.V." maternity care home in Rheinhessen somewhere between 1936-1944. |
Initially set up in Germany in 1935, Lebensborn expanded into several occupied European countries with Germanic population during the Second World War. It included the selection of "racially worthy" orphans for adoption and the birth of children from Aryan love interests of SS-members. It was not intended for children between common soldiers and foreign women, because there was no proof of racial purity on both sides.
At the Nuremberg Trials no evidence was found of direct involvement by the Lebensborn organization in the kidnapping of thousands of Polish children who were subjected to "Germanisation" by sending them to re-education camps and fostering them out to German families. This project, also directed by Himmler, was carried out by other segments of the Nazi bureaucracy.
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