Lebensborn

© Angeniet Berkers - Image from the Lebensborn photography project © Angeniet Berkers - Image from the Lebensborn photography project © Angeniet Berkers - A tree in a German forest near heim Hochland View all images ↓
View all images ↓

A visual research project about birth politics in the Third Reich and more specifically the Lebensborn program; a program to ensure them of the growth of enough Aryan citizens.

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”). SS-officers were encouraged to reproduce as much as possible, including out of wedlock. In several clinics spread over Germany, Norway, Belgium, France and Poland, (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. 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. The birth rates had dropped dramatically and something had to be done. When it turned out that this program did not bring enough new Aryan souls, thousands of children with blond hair and blue eyes were kidnapped from Eastern Europe and taken to German homes to ‘Germanize’. After the war, the children from these homes and families were often stigmatized 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. Non of these stories were true but they didn’t make life easier for the Lebensborn children.

The purpose of Lebensborn is so immense, 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 so that they will not be forgotten. It is the ultimate example of a scewed sense of superiority. For the project I tracked down these children to interview and portray them. I also did extensive archival research and I photographed relevant objects and documents such as birth certificates. In addition, I visited several homes (where women could give birth to their Aryan children) in Germany, Austria and Norway. 'Guilty 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 history. The project is now a book designed by Rob van Hoesel and published by The Eriskay Connection. Release April 2024. The book was shortlisted for the Historical Book Award in by Rencontres Arles and the Paris Photo Aperture First Book Award. The project was exhibited at Kunsthal in Rotterdam and was the winner of the Emergentes Portfolio reviews and the PhEST Pop Up open Call. It is currently exhibited at both festivals. The project was published internationally; in Washington Post, GEO.DE, Frankfurter Allgemeine, Volkskrant, NRC, Trouw and more.

Installation description:

Ideally I'd like to start with a short intro of the program using text and then we show the pictures as followed:

First a set of objects:

It works well when placing the objects/documents with a black background together in a grid of 2 x 4 images. Size 40x50 cm. There are a lot more of these images than I could send with this open call containing for instance an SS dagger (used for the baptismal ceremony), a Mutter Kreuz (that women would get if they had a lot of babies in Nazi Germany), a spoon from a Lebensborn home (with inscription), Himmler's order for SS to procreate as much as possible etc.

We use a few blow-ups of the 'guilty' landscapes in the exhibition space. This works very well and creates this atmosphere of duality when combined with the measurement devices with white background (48x60 cm). There are three of these devices photographed: a measurement device for eye and skin colour, hair, and head circumference.

Buildings & Interior can be placed throughout the exhibition space, where it fits, in combination with a blow up landscape.

Protagonists & sound:

I have three edited interviews where you hear three individuals speaking about their life and experiences, they take about 5-7 minutes each. They are from Gisela Heidenreich, Ingrid von Oelhafen and Michael Sturm. I'd like to show their portraits combined with an archival image and a quote that was used in the book plus a short introduction text. Visitors can then listed to them speak with headphones or it can be played out loud in a loop. Size of the portraits should be bigger than the objects and devices. The archival images smaller.

Propaganda films: An extra addition to the exhibition could be two propaganda films that can be used from USHMM. They show a doctor using the racial measurement devices and another showing the necessity of racial hygiene explained by showing beautiful footage of nature, plants and animals.

© Angeniet Berkers - Image from the Lebensborn photography project
i

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.

© Angeniet Berkers - Image from the Lebensborn photography project
i

Arolsen Archives, Bad Arolsen, Germany, November 2022Photographed archive image. A signpost pointing the way to a nearby Lebensborn home: Heim Kurmark.

© Angeniet Berkers - A tree in a German forest near heim Hochland
i

A tree in a German forest near heim Hochland

© Angeniet Berkers - A device to measure eye-color. These would fit within different categories. Blue would be the Aryan category.
i

A device to measure eye-color. These would fit within different categories. Blue would be the Aryan category.

© Angeniet Berkers - Image from the Lebensborn photography project
i

Schwanewede, Germany, December 2019. A tube that contained blood used for racial examination. These tests were also used to see if someone was carrying an STD.

© Angeniet Berkers - Image from the Lebensborn photography project
i

Gisela Heidenreich's mother worked for the Lebensborn program and got pregnant from an SS-officer who she had an affair with. Gisela was born in Norway in a Lebensborn home, to keep the pregnancy hidden.

© Angeniet Berkers - Image from the Lebensborn photography project
i

Seefeld, Germany, April 2022Photographed archive image. 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.

© Angeniet Berkers - The hallway in Heim Hurdalsverk
i

The hallway in Heim Hurdalsverk

© Angeniet Berkers - Image from the Lebensborn photography project
© Angeniet Berkers - Image from the Lebensborn photography project
i

It was not until 2008 that Michael Sturm started digging into his past at the prompting of his son. He could never have imagined that he would unearth such a fraught past. His father turned out to be a high-ranking officer in the Wehrmacht.

© Angeniet Berkers - Image from the Lebensborn photography project
i

Grünheide, Germany, December 2019. Photographed archive image. 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 found out that this was a lie

© Angeniet Berkers - Image from the Lebensborn photography project
i

Osnabrück, Germany, November 2022Portrait in the living room of Ingrid von Oelhafen. Born in Slovenia, Ingrid von Oelhafen was 1 of the 'Bandit Children' (her parents were Partisan) who were looted by the Nazis. Families were asked to come forward after which all children who met Aryan characteristics were taken to children's homes in Germany and elsewhere to Germanise.

© Angeniet Berkers - Image from the Lebensborn photography project
i

Even though the relationship with her mother was cold she did keep a diary from the beginning of Ingrid’s stay. There was a small pluck of blond hair to be found in it from when Ingrid was still a child.

© Angeniet Berkers - Image from the Lebensborn photography project
i

A teddy bear from a Lebensborn home. The bear is now part of the collection of the USHMM in Washington, where this bear was also photographed.

© Angeniet Berkers - Image from the Lebensborn photography project
i

A device to measure the size of the head. A child’s “racial value” would determine to which of 11 racial types it was assigned, including points assessing body proportions, eye color, hair color, and the shape of the skull.

© Angeniet Berkers - Image from the Lebensborn photography project
i

A dagger that was in the possession of someone from the SS. The blade reads: “Meine Ehre heißt Treue” (my honor is called faithful). The motto of the SS. SS daggers were used in the baptismal ritual of the Lebensborn babies.

© Angeniet Berkers - The view from Lebensborn children's home Stallheim in Norway.
i

The view from Lebensborn children's home Stallheim in Norway.

© Angeniet Berkers - Image from the Lebensborn photography project
i

The bedroom of two pregnant women in Heim Hurdalsverk in Norway. On the bedside table you see the pictures of their loved ones, German soldiers.

© Angeniet Berkers - Image from the Lebensborn photography project
i

Heim Sonnenwiese, in Kohren Sahlis. Children from Norway and looted children from Eastern Europe and the so-called Bandit Children ended up there. The children were between 3 months and 6 years old.

Lebensborn by Angeniet Berkers

Prev Next Close