Germany, Austria, Norway & USA 2019 - 2023
On December 12, 1935, a program was started in Germany to provide the Third Reich with the new generation of leaders and SS officers; Lebensborn (“Source of Life”). The birth rates had dropped dramatically and something had to be done to prevent abortion. In several clinics spread over Germany, Norway, Belgium, France and Poland, (married and unmarried) women, if they met the requirements of the Aryan race, could give birth to their children. Outside of Germany it was mainly the case that German soldiers had relationships with local women. SS-officers were encouraged to reproduce as much as possible, including out of wedlock. The architect behind this plan, Heinrich Himmler, aimed to improve the ‘racial quality’ in the new empire to be built on a National Socialist basis with these blue-eyed, blond-haired and light-skinned children. When it turned out that this program did not bring enough new Aryan souls, children with blonde hair and blue eyes were kidnapped from Eastern Europe and taken to German homes to ‘Germanise’. After the war, the children from these homes and families were often stigmatised and sometimes even mistreated or sexually abused. Many grew up with secrets, the past should not be talked about. The Lebensborn homes were thought to be brothels or ‘stud farms’ for SS men, as quite some (B)movies implied. None of these stories were true.
The purpose of Lebensborn is so unreal and horrific that I believe it should never be forgotten. In view of our society that increasingly flirts with nationalism, I think it is important to document and tell these stories from the past. It is the ultimate example of a scewed sense of superiority. For the project I tracked down these 'children' who are now in their 70s and 80s to interview and portray them. I did archival research and I have photographed relevant objects and documents such as birth certificates to visualise the system that was behind the program. In addition, I visited several homes (where women could give birth to their Aryan children) in Germany, Norway and Austria. Landscapes are a part of the project as well. A landscape takes on a completely different meaning when these images are combined with stories, portraits and archive images that tell about its historyOn December 12, 1935, a program was started in Germany to provide the Third Reich with the new generation of leaders and SS officers; Lebensborn (“Source of Life”). The birth rates had dropped dramatically and something had to be done to prevent abortion. In several clinics spread over Germany, Norway, Belgium, France and Poland, (married and unmarried) women, if they met the requirements of the Aryan race, could give birth to their children. Outside of Germany it was mainly the case that German soldiers had relationships with local women. SS-officers were encouraged to reproduce as much as possible, including out of wedlock. The architect behind this plan, Heinrich Himmler, aimed to improve the ‘racial quality’ in the new empire to be built on a National Socialist basis with these blue-eyed, blond-haired and light-skinned children. When it turned out that this program did not bring enough new Aryan souls, children with blonde hair and blue eyes were kidnapped from Eastern Europe and taken to German homes to ‘Germanise’. After the war, the children from these homes and families were often stigmatised and sometimes even mistreated or sexually abused. Many grew up with secrets, the past should not be talked about. The Lebensborn homes were thought to be brothels or ‘stud farms’ for SS men, as quite some (B)movies implied. None of these stories were true.
The purpose of Lebensborn is so unreal and horrific that it should never be forgotten. In view of our society that increasingly flirts with nationalism, it is important to document and tell these stories from the past. It is the ultimate example of a skewed sense of superiority. For the project I tracked down these 'children' who are now in their 70s and 80s to interview and portray them. She did archival research and photographed relevant objects and documents such as birth certificates, to visualise the system that was behind the program. I also visited former Lebensborn homes and photographed both the buildings and the surrounding landscape. Although these locations now have a different function, they remain silent witnesses to an eventful past..
In 2024 the project was published as a book with publisher The Eriskay Connection.
Exhibitions
Kunsthal (28-3 / 13-7)
Encontros da Imagem (September 2025)
Publications and reviews
Washington Post
NRC
Trouw
Volkskrant
Katalog Journal
Fotodok
CPHMag by Joerg Coelberg
Nominations
Aperture Paris Photo First Book Award
Rencontres d'Arles Historical Book Award,
SiPf Book Award
Best books of 2024
Volkskrant
Archives Library.
This project has been made possible by the generous support of the Mondriaan Fund, Fonds Anna Cornelis, Fotodok & Stichting Dialoog, CBK Rotterdam, Jaap Hartenfund, Culturefund, Municpality of Rotterdam and Fonds Kwadraat.
The frontpage of a folder that is given to women that are thinking of having their babies in a Lebensborn home. It gives information about the different homes, the rules and regulations a mother should comply to (such as the questionnaires one has to fill in and the documents you have to have to prove you are Aryan), the facilities, the possibilities for your child (taking it back home, foster care or adoption).
A signpost pointing the way to a nearby Lebensborn home: Heim Kurmark.
A tree in a German forest near heim Hochland
A teddy bear from a Lebensborn home. The bear is now part of the collection of the USHMM in Washington, where it was also photographed.
Photographed archive photo: picture was made by Paul Erik's father in Norway
Munich, Germany, October 2019
The 'robbed children' were placed in special temporary camps called Kindererziehungslager (children's education camps). They then underwent special 'quality selection' or 'racial selection'; a detailed racial examination, combined with psychological tests and medical examinations. A child's 'racial value' would determine which racial type they were assigned to, including points for assessing body proportions, eye colour, hair colour and the shape of the skull.
Heim Godthaab was a children's home in Norway, not far from Oslo. It was intended for children with ages between 3 months and 4 years. Many children from this home were sent to Heim Sonnenwiese in Germany from where the children were adopted. The former home is now a rehabilitation centre.
Due to the low birthrates Himmler ordered his SS- men, who were seen as racial- ly superior, to procreate as much as possible, also outside of the marriage. The order was photographed in the Arolsen Archives which houses a large collection of archival material from WW 2.
All his life, Michael thought his father had died in the war in 1944, his mother had told him. Upon entering, he immediately shows his baptismal papers; he was baptised again in 1948, this time without SS ritual. The document stated that his mother was married. It turned out to be a lie. His mother Elsa Sturm was never married. Michael's father's name was not Sturm either, he had his mother's surname. Only in 2008, at his son's insistence, did he start digging into his past. He could never have imagined that he would uncover such a fraught past. His father turned out to be a senior officer in the Wehrmacht. Involved in the bombing of Rotterdam, among other things.
Michael Sturm was born in Bad Polzin, which is now Poland. He was conceived out of wedlock. He stayed in the home for a while, until he was placed in Heim Sonnenwiese. His grandmother took him thereon, where he stayed until 1948. His mother always told him that his father had died in the war but in 2008 he discovered that his father was a senior officer in the Wehrmacht and had lived for years after the war.
Ingrid von Oelhafen was originally born in Slovenia and was one of the ‘Bandit children’ (her parents were Partizan) taken by the nazi’s to Germanise to children’s homes in Germany and Austria and then put up for adoption or foster care. She didn’t have a passport at 18, only a document with a different name: Erika Matko. Her foster mother never told her the truth and took her secrets with her in her grave. She had to search for her identity for a very long time.
Despite the fact that the relationship between Ingrid and her foster mother was very cold, she did appear to have kept a diary of the first period Ingrid stayed with her. This included a small strand of blonde hair that belonged to Ingrid when she was a child.
Portrait of Gisela Heidenreich in her living room. Gisela's original surname is Edelmann. A name now found in many documents on the adoption of Germanised children. Her mother worked at Steinhöring and she visited the occupied territories that are now Poland to find 'valuable children' for the programme in orphanages. Gisela's father was an SS officer in charge of a school for SS officers. Her mother was a secretary there at the time (1939-1941) and that is how she got to know Gisela's father. He already had a family and two children. Gisela was born in Norway in a Lebensborn home so no one would know anything about her mother's pregnancy. She grew up with her aunt, whom she thought was her mother until she was about three years old. Her aunt's husband returned from prison after the war so she was overjoyed when her father entered their home. He angrily asked what this 'bastard child' was doing there and her aunt then bluntly told her that she was not her mother, but her aunt Emmi. This was the shock of her life.
Gisela tells me there are many Lebensborn children with photos similar to this one. The babies are held proudly for the photographer, even though she never felt her mother was proud of her. The photos look like propaganda posters and may have been taken with that intention.
Hønefoss, Norway, June 2022
Portrait at the kitchen table of Paul-Erik Vollmerhaus. Paul-Erik Vollmerhaus was born in Heim Geiloo in Norway, in 1943. His parents met at a local party in 1940. His father (just 21 years old) was stationed in northern Norway and worked for the Luftwaffe with communications. They married when the war was just over but Paul-Eriks' father had to return to Germany and his mother was banned from following him for various reasons. They divorced in 1949 and both remarried. His father found a woman remarkably similar to Paul-Erik's mother. Their son Ullrich moved to Norway and is now the 'third brother'. Paul-Erik's mother remarried a Partisan and had two children. One of them was Jan. The families stayed in touch and visited each other regularly. Paul-Erik was never bullied because of his German history. His mother was not shaved or taken to a camp after the war, probably because of his stepfather who protected him. The family has always been very open about their past with each other and feels no shame about it.
Paul-Erik Vollmerhaus' father at the age of 21 in his Luftwaffe uniform.
A tube top that contained blood for racial examination.
Photographed in Heim Friesland which is close Bremen.
These tests were also used to see if someone was carrying a disease.
A device to measure eye-colour. The measurements were written down on a form to determine someones racial category. These racial exams determined the fate of children: whether they would be killed, or sent to concentration camps, or experience other consequences. For example, after forcibly taking a child away from his or her parents, “medical exams” could be performed.
In Heim Hurdalsverk young women could give birth to their children, fathered by German soldiers. Often there was a love relationship, usually the couple was not (yet) married. To prevent embarrassing situations (and abortion), these women could already go to this home before the pregnancy became visible. In total, about 600 children were born in this home.
Heim Hurdalsverk now houses a folkehøgskole (highschool). Behind closed doors and corridors with peeling paint, hidden in a junk room, two cribs are stored. They were used during the war in Heim Hurdalsverk for the children that were born there.
The remains of the fountain at Heim Hohehorst.
Cutlery from a Lebensborn home.
Kohren Sahlis, Germany, 2019
In the village of Kohren-Salis, near Leipzig, stands a children's home. Originally built for the elderly, the home was completed in July 1941. Three months later, it became a Lebensborn home; it opened in 1942. Children from Norway and looted children from Eastern Europe and the so-called Bandit children ended up there. There were children aged between three months and six years old. Babies and children arrived by train along with nurses who took care of them. The train tracks no longer exist. A tractor drove them from the terminus to the home. Docter Feith decided whether a child could stay or not. Children there had to Germanise and were regularly examined racially.