View source for Lebensborn

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{{Short description|Nazi Germany eugenics program}}
{{Distinguish|Lebensreform}}
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{{Infobox organization
| name          = ''Lebensborn e.V.''
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| image         = Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1973-010-11, Schwester in einem Lebensbornheim.jpg
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| caption       = A ''Lebensborn'' birth house
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| formation     = {{start date|1935|12|12|df=y}}
| founder       = [[Heinrich Himmler]]
| dissolved     = 1945
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| headquarters  = [[Munich]], Germany
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| membership    = 8,000 (1939)
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{{Heinrich Himmler series|expanded=Organizations}}{{Nazism sidebar}}{{Eugenics sidebar}}

'''''Lebensborn [[Registered association (Germany)|e.V.]]''''' (literally: "Fount of Life") was a secret, [[Schutzstaffel|SS]]-initiated, [[State (polity)|state]]-registered association in [[Nazi Germany]] with the stated goal of increasing the number of children born who met the Nazi standards of "racially pure" and "healthy" [[Aryan race|Aryan]]s, based on [[Nazi eugenics]] (also called "[[racial hygiene]]" by some [[eugenicists]]). ''Lebensborn'' was established by [[Heinrich Himmler]], and provided welfare to its mostly unmarried mothers, encouraged anonymous births by unmarried women at their maternity homes, and mediated [[adoption]] of children by likewise "racially pure" and "healthy" parents, particularly SS members and their families. The [[Cross of Honour of the German Mother]] was given to the women who bore the most [[Aryan race|Aryan]] children. [[Abortion]] was legalized (and, more commonly, endorsed) by the Nazis for disabled and non-[[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] children, but strictly punished otherwise.

Set up in Germany in 1935, ''Lebensborn'' expanded into several occupied European countries with [[Germanic peoples|Germanic populations]] during the [[Second World War|World War II]]. It included the selection of "racially worthy" orphans for adoption and care for children born from Aryan women who had been in relationships with SS members. It originally excluded children born from unions between common soldiers and foreign women, because there was no proof of "[[racial purity]]" on both sides. During the war, many children were kidnapped from their parents and judged by Aryan criteria for their suitability to be raised in ''Lebensborn'' homes, and fostered by German families.

At the [[Nuremberg trials]], much direct evidence was found of the [[kidnapping of children by Nazi Germany]] during the period 1939–1945.

==History==

===Background===
The ''Lebensborn e.V.'' (e.V. stands for ''[[eingetragener Verein]]'' or registered association), meaning "fount of life", was founded on 12 December 1935,<ref name="albanese">{{cite book|last=Albanese|first=Patrizia|title=Mothers of the Nation: Women, Families and Nationalism in Twentieth-Century Europe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X9ivwlTAiQkC&pg=PA37|access-date=15 August 2011|year=2006|publisher=University of Toronto Press|location=Toronto|isbn=978-0802090157|page=37}}</ref> to counteract falling birth rates in [[Germany]], and to promote [[Nazi eugenics]].<ref name=bissell>{{cite web |last=Bissell |first=Kate |title=Fountain of Life |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4080822.stm |access-date=30 September 2011 |publisher=BBC Radio 4 |date=13 June 2005}}</ref> 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.{{cn|date=July 2023}}

On 13 September 1936, [[Heinrich Himmler]] wrote the following to members of the SS:

{{quote|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:
# Support racially, biologically and hereditarily valuable families with many children.
# Placement and care of 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.
# Care for the children.
# Care for the children's mothers.

It is the honorable 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.<ref name=himmlerfounding>{{cite encyclopedia |author=Office of United States Chief of Counsel For Prosecution of Axis Criminality  |editor1-last=Barrett |editor1-first=Roger W. |editor2-last=Jackson |editor2-first=William E. |encyclopedia=Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression |title=Founding of the organization "Lebensborn e.V.", 13 September 1936 |url=https://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/pdf/NT_Nazi_Vol-V.pdf |access-date=16 August 2011 |year=1946 |publisher=United States Government Printing Office |volume=5 |location=Washington, DC |pages=465–466 }}</ref>}}

In 1939, membership stood at 8,000, of which 3,500 were SS leaders.<ref>[http://www.wernigerode.de/WRPortal/Landkreis/Buergerservice/Kreisgeschichte/Lebensborn.htm] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070329135828/http://www.wernigerode.de/WRPortal/Landkreis/Buergerservice/Kreisgeschichte/Lebensborn.htm|date=29 March 2007}}</ref>
The ''Lebensborn'' office was part of ''SS Rasse und Siedlungshauptamt'' ([[SS Race and Settlement Main Office]]) until 1938, when it was transferred to ''Hauptamt Persönlicher Stab Reichsführer-SS'' ([[Personal Staff Reichsführer-SS|Personal Staff of the ''Reichführer''-SS]]), i.e. directly overseen by Himmler. Leaders of ''Lebensborn e. V.'' were ''SS-[[Standartenführer]]'' {{ill|Max Sollmann|de}} and ''SS-[[Oberführer]]'' Dr. [[Gregor Ebner]].{{cn|date=July 2023}}

===Implementation===
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1969-062A-58, "Verein Lebensborn", Taufe.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Christening of a ''Lebensborn'' child, c. 1935–1936, [[Rhenish Hesse]] region]]

Initially the programme served as a welfare institution for wives of SS officers; the organization ran facilities{{snd}}primarily [[Maternity home|maternity homes]]{{snd}}where women could give birth or get help with family matters. The programme also accepted unmarried women who were either pregnant or had already given birth and were in need of aid, provided that both the woman and the father of the child were classified as "racially valuable".  About 60% of the mothers were unmarried. The program allowed them to give birth secretly away from home without [[social stigma]]. In case the mothers wanted to give up the children, the program also had orphanages and an adoption service.<ref name=crossland>{{cite news|last=Crossland|first=David|title=Nazi Program to Breed Master Race: Lebensborn Children Break Silence|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,446978,00.html|access-date=15 August 2011|newspaper=Der Spiegel|date=7 November 2006|location=Hamburg}}</ref> When dealing with non-SS members, parents and children were usually examined by SS doctors before admission.

The first ''Lebensborn'' home (known as "Heim Hochland") opened in 1936, in [[Steinhöring]], a tiny village not far from Munich. The first home outside of Germany opened in [[Norway]] in 1941. Many of these facilities were established in confiscated houses and former [[nursing home]]s owned by Jews.<ref name=bissell/> Leaders of the [[League of German Girls]] were instructed to recruit young women with the potential to become good breeding partners for SS officers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://spartacus-educational.com/Lebensborn.htm|title=Lebensborn (Spring of Life)|website=Spartacus Educational}}</ref>

While ''Lebensborn e. V.'' established facilities in several occupied countries, its activities were concentrated around Germany, Norway and occupied [[Baltic region|northeastern Europe]], mainly [[Poland]]. The main focus in [[occupied Norway]] was aiding children born to Norwegian women and fathered by German soldiers. In northeastern Europe the organisation, in addition to services provided to SS members, engaged in the transfer of children, mostly orphans, to families in Germany.{{cn|date=July 2023}}

''Lebensborn e. V.'' had or planned to have facilities in the following countries (some were merely field offices):
* Germany: 10
* [[Austria]]: 3
* Poland ([[General Government]]{{snd}}the occupied Polish territory and annexed lands of Poland): 6 (8 if [[Szczecin|Stettin]] and [[Połczyn-Zdrój|Bad Polzin]] are included.)<ref>Bydgoszcz, Kraków, Helenówek pod Łodzią, Otwock, Smoszew koło Krotoszyna, Smoszewo; 8 if you include Stettin and Połczyn-Zdrój (which became a part of Poland only after the war)</ref>
* Norway: 9
* Denmark: 2
* France: 1 (February 1944{{snd}}August 1944){{snd}}in [[Lamorlaye]]
* Belgium: 1 (March 1943{{snd}}September 1944){{snd}}in [[Wégimont Castle|Wégimont]], in the municipality of [[Soumagne]]
* Netherlands: 1
* [[Luxembourg]]: 1

About 8,000 children were born in ''Lebensborn'' homes in Germany, and a similar number in Norway.<ref name="simonsen">{{Cite journal|url=https://edoc.hu-berlin.de/bitstream/handle/18452/8560/simonsen.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y|title=Into the open – or hidden away?|first=Eva|last=Simonsen|journal=NORDEUROPAforum - Zeitschrift für Kulturstudien|date=February 2006|issue=2 |pages=25–49 |via=edoc-Server|doi=10.18452/7908|access-date=1 December 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Children of World War II: The Hidden Enemy Legacy |editor1-first=Kjersti |editor1-last=Ericsson |editor1-link=Kjersti Ericsson |editor2-first=Eva |editor2-last=Simonsen |date=2005 |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing]] |pages=19–20 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=An8SBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA19 |isbn=9781845208806}}</ref> Elsewhere the total number of births was much lower.<ref name="simonsen"/>

In Norway the ''Lebensborn'' organisation handled approximately 250 adoptions. In most of these cases the mothers had agreed to the adoption, but not all were informed that their children would be [[War children#Lebensborn program|sent to Germany for adoption]]. The Norwegian government recovered only 170 of these children after the war.{{cn|date=July 2023}}

===Germanisation===
{{Main|Kidnapping of children by Nazi Germany}}
[[File:Kidnapping of Polish children by Nazi-German occupants (Zamojszczyzna).jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Kidnapping of Polish children during the Nazi-German resettlement operation in [[Zamość]] county]]
[[File:Polish children in Nazi-German labor camp in Dzierżązna.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Polish children in Nazi-German labour camp in Dzierżązna near [[Zgierz]]]]

In 1939, the Nazis started to kidnap children from foreign countries{{snd}}mainly from [[Yugoslavia]] and [[Poland]], but also [[Russia]], [[Ukraine]], [[Czechoslovakia]], [[Romania]], [[Estonia]], [[Latvia]], and [[Norway]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.radionetherlandsarchives.org/children-of-the-hated-the-lebensborn-program-of-racial-breeding/|title=Children of the Hated: the "Lebensborn" program of racial breeding|date=10 November 2018}}</ref>{{snd}} for the ''Lebensborn'' program. They started to do this because "It is our duty to take [the children] with us to remove them from their environment&nbsp;... 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," Himmler reportedly said.<ref name=p13>{{cite web|url=http://colanmc.siu.edu/clockwork/papers/p13.htm|title=The Lebensborn Organization|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130218025750/http://colanmc.siu.edu/clockwork/papers/p13.htm|archive-date=18 February 2013|publisher=Southern Illinois University}}</ref>

The Nazis would seize children in full view of the parents. The kidnapped children were administered several tests and were categorised into three groups:
* Those considered desirable to be included into the German population.
* Those who were acceptable.
* The unwanted.

The children classified as unwanted were taken to [[concentration camp]]s to work or were killed. The children from the other groups, if between the ages of 2 and 6, were placed with families in the programme to be brought up by them in a kind of [[foster child]] status. Children of ages 6 to 12 were placed in German [[Boarding school|boarding schools]]. The schools assigned the children new German names and taught them to be proud to be part of Germany. They forced the children to forget their birth parents and erased any records of their ancestry. Those who resisted [[Germanisation]] were beaten and, if a child continued to rebel, they would be sent to a concentration camp.<ref>[https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/Lebensborn.html "The Lebensborn"], Jewish Virtual Library's description of the Lebensborn program</ref>

In the final stages of the war, the files of all children kidnapped for the programme were destroyed. As a result, researchers have found it nearly impossible to learn how many children were taken. The Polish government has claimed that 10,000 children were kidnapped, and less than 15% were returned to their biological parents.<ref name=p13/> Other estimates include numbers as high as 200,000, although according to [[A. Dirk Moses|Dirk Moses]] a more likely number is around 20,000.<ref name=Moses255>{{cite book|author=A. Dirk Moses|title=Genocide and Settler Society: Frontier Violence and Stolen Indigenous Children in Australian History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5zHAGNPTkqIC&q=Germanization+%22Polish+children&pg=PA260| location =New York and Oxford | publisher = Berghahn Books | year = 2004|page =255|access-date=16 September 2008 | isbn=978-1571814104}}</ref>

===Post-war===
====Kidnapping charges====
[[File:Max Sollmann 1.JPG|thumb|upright|Max Sollmann before his [[Subsequent Nuremberg trials|trial]] at Nuremberg]]

After the war, the branch of the ''Lebensborn'' organisation operating in north-eastern Europe was accused of kidnapping children deemed "racially valuable" in order to resettle them with German families. However, of approximately 10,000 foreign-born children located after the war in the American-controlled area of Germany, [[RuSHA Trial|in the trial]] of the leaders of the ''Lebensborn'' organisation (''[[United States of America v. Ulrich Greifelt, et al.]]''), the court found that 340 had been handled by ''Lebensborn e. V.'' The accused were acquitted on charges of kidnapping.{{cn|date=July 2023}}

The court found ample evidence of an existing programme of the kidnapping or forced movement of children in north-eastern Europe, but concluded that these activities were carried out by individuals who were not members of ''Lebensborn''. Exactly how many children were moved by ''Lebensborn'' or other organisations remains unknown due to the destruction of archives by SS members prior to fleeing the advancing Allied forces.{{cn|date=July 2023}}

From the trial's transcript:<ref>[http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/WCC/greifelt3.htm ''Trial of Ulrich Greifelt and Others,'' United Nations War Crimes Commission. Part III] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060615221427/http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/WCC/greifelt3.htm |date=15 June 2006 }}</ref>

<blockquote>The prosecution has failed to prove with the requisite certainty the participation of ''Lebensborn'', and the defendants connected there with in the kidnapping programme conducted by the Nazis. While the evidence has disclosed that thousands upon thousands of children were unquestionably kidnapped by other agencies or organisations and brought into Germany, the evidence has further disclosed that only a small percentage of the total number ever found their way into ''Lebensborn''. And of this number only in isolated instances did ''Lebensborn'' take children who had a living parent. The majority of those children in any way connected with ''Lebensborn'' were orphans of ethnic Germans.

Upon the evidence submitted, the defendant Sollmann is found not guilty on counts one and two of the indictment.</blockquote>

====Treatment of children====
After Germany's surrender, the press reported on the unusually good weight and health of the "super babies". They spent time outdoors in sunlight and received two baths a day. Everything that came into contact with the babies was disinfected first. Nurses ensured that the children ate everything given to them.<ref name="life1945081337">{{cite magazine | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1UkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA37 | title='Super Babies': Illegitimate children of SS men are housed in a German chateau | magazine=Life | date=13 August 1945 | access-date=12 September 2015 | page=37}}</ref> Until the last days of the war, the mothers and the children at maternity homes got the best treatment available, including food, although others in the area were starving. Once the war ended, local communities often took revenge on the women, beating them, cutting off their hair, and running them out of the community. Many ''Lebensborn'' children were born to unwed mothers. After the war, ''Lebensborn'' survivors were often subjected to ostracization.{{cn|date=July 2023}}

====False assumptions====
Himmler's effort to secure a "racially pure" [[German question#Later influence|Greater Germany]], sloppy [[journalism]] on the subject, as well as Nazi ideology retained by some, led to persistent false assumptions about the programme. The main misconception was that the programme involved coercive breeding. The first stories reporting that ''Lebensborn'' was a coercive breeding programme can be found in the German-language magazine ''[[Revue (magazine)|Revue]]'', which ran a series on the subject in the 1950s.{{cn|date=July 2023}}

The programme did intend to promote the growth of Aryan populations, through encouraging [[rape|relationships]] between German soldiers and Nordic women in occupied countries. Access to ''Lebensborn'' was restricted in accordance with the [[Nordic race|Nordicist]] eugenic and racial policies of [[Nazism]], which could be referred to as supervised [[selective breeding]].  Recently discovered records and ongoing testimony of ''Lebensborn'' children{{snd}}and some of their parents{{snd}}shows that some SS men did sire children in Himmler's ''Lebensborn'' program.<ref>[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article626101.ece "Himmler was my godfather"]{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}, ''Times'' (UK) Online, 6 November 2006</ref> This was widely rumored within Germany during the period of the programme.<ref>[[Richard Grunberger]], ''The 12-Year Reich'', pp. 246–247, {{ISBN|0030764351}}</ref>

==Self-help groups and aftermath==
In Norway, children born to Norwegian mothers by German fathers were allegedly often bullied, raped, abused, and persecuted by the government after the war, and placed in mental institutions. The Norwegian government attempted to deport ''Lebensborn'' children to Germany, [[Brazil]], and [[Australia]] but did not succeed. A group of ''Lebensborn'' children sought compensation from the Norwegian government, which they saw as being complicit in their mistreatment. In 2008, their case before the [[European Court of Human Rights]] was dismissed as the events had happened too long ago, but they were each offered an £8,000 payment from the Norwegian government.<ref>Rob Sharp, [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/the-chosen-ones-the-war-children-born-to-nazi-fathers-in-a-sinister-eugenics-scheme-speak-out-771017.html "The chosen ones: The war children born to Nazi fathers in a sinister eugenics scheme speak out"], ''The Independent'', 20 January 2008. Retrieved 23 April 2015.</ref>

In November 2006, in the German town of [[Wernigerode]], an open meeting took place among several ''Lebensborn'' children, with the intention of dispelling myths and encouraging those affected to investigate their origins.<ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6117744.stm "Nazi 'master race' children meet"], BBC News, 4 November 2006</ref><ref>David Crossland, [http://www.spiegel.de/international/nazi-program-to-breed-master-race-lebensborn-children-break-silence-a-446978.html "Nazi Program to Breed Master Race: Lebensborn Children Break Silence"], ''Spiegel'', 7 November 2006. Retrieved 23 April 2015.</ref>

General documents on ''Lebensborn'' activities are administered by [[International Tracing Service]] and by [[German Federal Archives]].<ref>[https://www.its-arolsen.org/en/archives/overview-of-the-archival-holdings/finding-aids/ New "Findbuch" (register) to still existing general „Lebensborn“-documents] its-arolsen.org, site looked at on 30 March 2017</ref> The association ''Verein kriegskind.de'' is among those that published search efforts (''Suchbitten'') to identify ''Lebensborn'' children.<ref>[http://www.kriegskind.de/suchbitten.html "Search efforts (Suchbitten) for Lebensborn-children"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120626140947/http://www.kriegskind.de/suchbitten.html |date=26 June 2012 }}, kriegskind.de</ref>

Several of the surviving ''Lebensborn'' children appeared in ''Wars Don't End'', a 2018 documentary film directed by Dheeraj Akolkar and narrated by [[Liv Ullmann]].<ref>{{Cite video |last=Akolkar |first=Dheeraj|date=June 26, 2020|title=''Wars Don't End''|publisher=[[Vimeo]]|url=https://vimeo.com/ondemand/warsdontend}}</ref>

==In popular culture==

The Czech TV film ''[[Spring of Life (2000 film)|Spring of Life]]'' (2000) tells the story of a [[Sudeten German]] teenager recruited as a future mother into a ''Lebensborn'' in Poland.<ref name="MIFF">{{cite web |title=Der Lebensborn |url=http://www.miff.it/scheda.php?lang=1&id=54 |website=8º Film Festival Internazionale di Milano |publisher=Milano International Film Festival |access-date=7 September 2020 |language=en}}</ref>

In the television series, ''[[The Man in the High Castle (TV series)|The Man in the High Castle]]'', Joe Blake and Nicole Dörmer are among several characters who were ''Lebensborn'' children.<ref>{{cite news|work=Slate|title=The Man in the High Castle's Nazi imagery isn't what makes its second season relevant|date=19 December 2016|url=https://slate.com/culture/2016/12/the-man-in-the-high-castle-s-nazi-imagery-isn-t-what-makes-its-second-season-relevant.html }}</ref>

The video game ''[[My Child Lebensborn]]'', which won the [[BAFTA Games Awards]] in 2018 for "Game Beyond Entertainment",<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bafta.org/media-centre/press-releases/winners-announced-british-academy-games-awards-in-2019|title=Winners Announced: British Academy Games Awards in 2019|date=4 April 2019|website=www.bafta.org|language=en|access-date=15 October 2019|archive-date=18 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201018111634/http://www.bafta.org/media-centre/press-releases/winners-announced-british-academy-games-awards-in-2019|url-status=dead}}</ref> lets players experience the bullying ''Lebensborn'' children went through after the war.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.polygon.com/2018/6/1/17409850/my-child-lebensborn-review-bullying-game|title=A game about the child of a Nazi interrogates the complexities of bullying|last=Campbell|first=Colin|date=1 June 2018|website=Polygon|language=en|access-date=15 October 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mychildlebensborn.com/|title=My Child Lebensborn|website=My Child Lebensborn|access-date=15 October 2019}}</ref>

In the novel and film ''[[Sophie's Choice (novel)|Sophie's Choice]]'', Sophie unsuccessfully attempts to place her son in the ''Lebensborn'' program.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Styron: Sophie's Choice {{!}} The Modern Novel|url=https://www.themodernnovel.org/americas/other-americas/usa/styron/sophie/|access-date=31 May 2021|website=www.themodernnovel.org}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Germany|Politics}}
* [[Children in the Holocaust]]
* [[European sexuality leading up to and during World War II]]
* [[RuSHA trial]]

==References==
;Notes
{{Reflist|2}}

==Further reading==

===English===
* Clay, Catrine; Leapman, Michael. (1995). ''Master race: the Lebensborn experiment in Nazi Germany''. Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton, {{ISBN|0340589787}}. (German version: ''Herrenmenschen – Das Lebensborn-Experiment der Nazis''. Publisher: Heyne-TB, 1997)
* "Children of World War II: the Hidden Enemy Legacy." Ed. Kjersti Ericsson and Eva Simonsen. New York: Berg Publishers, 2005. {{ISBN?}}
* Marc Hillel and Clarissa Henry. ''Of Pure Blood''. 1976. {{ISBN|007028895X}} (French version: ''Au nom de la race''. Publisher: Fayard)
* von Oelhafen, Ingrid; Tate, Tim. (2016) ''Hitler's Forgotten Children: A True Story of the Lebensborn Program and One Woman's Search for Her Real Identity''.  New York: Penguin Random House.  {{ISBN|978-0425283325}}
* ''Trials of War Criminals – Before the Nuernberg Military Tribunals Under Control Council Law No. 10. Vol. 5: United States v. Ulrich Greifelt, et al. (Case 8: 'RuSHA Case')''. Publisher: US Government Printing Office, District of Columbia, 1950.
* Thompson, Larry V. ''Lebensborn and the Eugenics Policy of the Reichsführer-SS.'' Central European History 4 (1971): 54–77.
* Wältermann, Dieter. ''The Functions and Activities of the Lebensborn Organization Within the SS, the Nazi Regime, and Nazi Ideology.'' The Honors Journal II (1985: 5–23).

===French===
* Marc Hillel, ''Au nom de la race'', Éditions Fayard, 1975. {{ISBN|225301592X}}.
* [[Nancy Huston]], ''Lignes de faille'', Éd. Actes Sud, 2006. {{ISBN|2742762590}}.
* Nancy Huston, ''Fault Lines'', Atlantic Books, {{ISBN|978-1843548522}}, 2007.
* Katherine Maroger, ''Les racines du silence'', Éditions Anne Carrière, 2008. {{ISBN|978-2843375057}}.
* Boris Thiolay: ''Lebensborn. La fabrique des enfants parfaits. Enqête sur ces Francais nés dans les maternités SS.'' (Titel aus dem Französischen übersetzt: Lebensborn. Die Fabrik der perfekten Kinder). Éditions Flammarion, Paris, 2012.

===German===
* Dirk Kaesler: ''Lügen und Scham. Deutsche Leben''. Publisher: Vergangenheitsverlag Berlin, 2023.
* Dorothee Schmitz-Köster: ''Deutsche Mutter bist du bereit – Alltag im Lebensborn''. Publisher: Aufbau-Verlag, 2002.
* Gisela Heidenreich: ''Das endlose Jahr. Die langsame Entdeckung der eigenen Biographie – ein Lebensbornschicksal''. Published: 2002.
* Georg Lilienthal: ''Der Lebensborn e. V. – Ein Instrument nationalsozialistischer Rassenpolitik''. Publisher: Fischer, 1993 (possibly republished in 2003).
* Kare Olsen: ''Vater: Deutscher. – Das Schicksal der Norwegischen Lebensbornkinder und ihrer Mütter von 1940 bis heute''. 2002. (the authoritative resource on ''Lebensborn'' in Norway and available in Norwegian: ''Krigens barn: De norske krigsbarna og deres mødre''. Published: Aschehoug 1998. {{ISBN|8203290906}}).
* Jörg Albrecht: ''Rohstoff für Übermenschen''. Published: Artikel in Zeit-Punkte 3/2001 zum Thema Biomedizin, pp.&nbsp;16–18.
* Benz, W.; Graml, H.; Weiß, H.(1997): ''Enzyklopädie des Nationalsozialismus''. Published: Digitale Bibliothek, CD-ROM, Band 25, Directmedia GmbH, Berlin.

===Norwegian===
* Kåre Olsen: ''"Vater: Deutscher." Das Schicksal der norwegischen Lebensbornkinder und ihrer Mütter von 1940 bis heute''. Campus, Frankfurt 2002, {{ISBN|3593370026}}

==External links==
{{commonscat}}
* [http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,446978,00.html Nazi Program to Breed Master Race, Lebensborn Children Break Silence]{{snd}}Spiegel Online International
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130218025750/http://colanmc.siu.edu/clockwork/papers/p13.htm "The Lebensborn Organization"] Southern Illinois University
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040621102929/http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/WCC/greifelt3.htm Trial of Ulrich Greifelt and others] Law Reports of the Trials of War Criminals, United Nations War Crimes Commission, London 1949 (copy at ''University of the West of England'' website)
* [https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/Lebensborn.html "The Lebensborn"] Jewish Virtual Library's description of the ''Lebensborn'' programme
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article626101.ece "Himmler was my godfather"]{{dead link|date=January 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} An online press article
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00n47rz The Last Nazis: Children of the Master Race] BBC documentary about the ''Lebensborn'' project
* [http://www.exberliner.com/articles/third-reich-poster-child/page-2.html Third Reich Poster Child] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307142303/http://www.exberliner.com/articles/third-reich-poster-child/page-2.html |date=7 March 2012 }} Portrait of a ''Lebensborn'' child in ''EXBERLINER'' magazine
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110108085136/http://www.arkivverket.no/eng National Archival Services of Norway]

{{Heinrich Himmler}}
{{Nazism}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Nazi crimes against children]]
[[Category:Heinrich Himmler]]
[[Category:Natalism]]
[[Category:Nazi eugenics]]
[[Category:Nazi Party organisations]]
[[Category:Women in Nazi Germany]]
[[Category:Kidnapping of children by Nazi Germany|*]]