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Lebensborn and the Eugenics Policy of the Reichsführer-SS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 December 2008

Larry V. Thompson
Larry V. Thompson
Affiliation:
United States Naval Academy
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Extract

In December 1935, Heinrich Himmler established an SS agency designated as Lebensborn, or the “Well of Life” society, ordering it to perform a twofold task: to administer welfare assistance to SS families having a large number of racially valuable children; and to extend maternity and child-care facilities to expectant mothers, whether they were married or not, if they could prove the biological excellence of their expected children. Even with the emphasis placed on racial value as a criterion for Lebensborn involvement, the agency might appear to have been a curious blend of an SS “fringe benefit” combined with a charitable SS gesture toward unwed mothers. In reality, Lebensborn functioned as one unit within a comprehensive eugenics policy begun earlier in 1931 when the Reichsführer issued his famous “marriage decree” to the SS. The contribution which Lebensborn made to this eugenics program is examined below with emphasis placed on the socio-biological motives that prompted the Reichsführer's concern for childbearing and ultimately lay behind the agency's founding.

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Articles
Information
Central European History , Volume 4 , Issue 1 , March 1971 , pp. 54 - 77
Copyright
Copyright © Conference Group for Central European History of the American Historical Association 1971

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References

1. The establishment of Lebensborn and the tasks assigned to it are in an SS directive of Dec. 1940, “Die Pflichten des SS-Mannes und SS-Führers,” U. S. National Archives Microfilm Publications, Microcopy T-175, Records of the Reich Leader of the SS and Chief of the German Police, Roll 15, Frames 2518681–83. Hereafter cited as T-175/15/2518681–83. An extensive presentation of Lebensborn's creation in 1935 and its subsequent functioning into 1937 is in “Ausbildungsbrief Nr. 3 des SS-Sanitätsamtes,” May 31, 1937, SS Document Number 811, Box 2. This file copy is from a collection of reproduced miscellaneous SS records in the National Archives. The original documents are deposited in the Berlin Document Center where they were shipped following collation for possible utilization at the Military Tribunals Trials. Comprising the bulk of these records are materials from the Rasse- und Siedlungshauptamt-SS (SS Race and Settlement Central Office or RuSHA). Hereafter cited as Misc. SS Files/SS-811/Box 2.

2. A copy of the Heiratsbefehl which summarizes the racial and ancestral examination procedures is in U. S. National Archives Microfilm Publications, Microcopy T-611, Non-Biographic Material Filmed at the Berlin Document Center, Roll 10, Ordner 446. Hereafter cited as T-611/10/Ordner 446. The later utilization by Lebensborn of these examinations when screening admissions applicants is explained “Merkblatt über die Aufnahme in ein Heim des Lebensborn e.V.,” Mar. 1, 1938, by SS-Standartenführer Dr. Gregor Ebner, the Medical Director of Lebensborn, T-611/7/Ordner 433.

3. The most comprehensive statement of Himmler's views on racial purity is in Himmler, Heinrich, Die Schutzstaffel als antibolschewistische Kampforganisation (München, 1936), passim.Google Scholar Cf. extracts from several Himmler speeches in Buchheim, Hans, “Command and Compliance,’ in Buchheim, Hans et al. Anatomy of the SS State (New York, 1968), pp. 336–39.Google Scholar See also a Himmler letter to Gefreiter Walter Kühlin, Apr. 3, 1940, Document Number 62a in Heiber, Helmut, ed., Reichsführer! Briefe an und von Himmler (Stuttgart, 1968), p. 75. Cited hereafter as Heiber, Reichsführer.Google Scholar

4. For the concern of Himmler about the birthrate, see “Entwurf für die bevölkerungs-politische Schrift an die SS-Führer,” 1937, T-175/201/2742407–10. A comprehensive analysis of German population statistics demonstrating the birthrate decline is a paper of Referent Dr. Burgdörfer (Direktor beim Statistischen Reichsamt) entitled “Bevölkerungs-politische Lage und Ausgleich der Familienlasten,” delivered before the Ausschuss für Rechtsfragen der Bevölkerungspolitik of the Akademie für Deutsches Recht, Nov. 18, 1937. U. S. National Archives Microfilm Publications, Microcopy T-82, Records of Nazi Cultural and Research Institutions and Records Pertaining to Axis Relations and Interests in the Far East, Roll 30, After Flash 3. Cited hereafter as T-82/30/After Flash 3.

5. Himmler summarized his thoughts on sexual chaos in a speech made to the Sachver-ständigenbeirat für Bevölkerungs- und Rassenpolitik, June 15, 1937. U. S. National Archives Microfilm, Microcopy T-580 (Berlin Document Center Files), Richard Darré Nachlass, Roll 329, Ordner 50, No Frame Numbers, pp. 1–5. Cited hereafter as T-580 /Darré Nachlass /329/Ordner 50. A contemporary pamphlet entitled Tatsachen und Folgerungen, written by a Dr. W. Leonhardt, substantiates the Reichsführer's thesis of a “sick society.” Leonhardt expressed concern for the declining birthrate and sought to link small population growth with abortions, widespread homosexuality, and alarming venereal disease statistics. T-82/41/After Flash 3.

6. Himmler speech to Sachverständigenbeirat für Bevölkerungs- und Rassenpolitik, June 15, 1937, T-580/Darré Nachlass/329/Ordner 50, passim. See especially pp. 7–8 for Himmler's utilization of the “bourgeois morality” concept. The sentiments which he expressed in the speech reflected a similar position previously taken in his personal correspondence. Himmler to Walter Buch, Chief of the Parteigericht, letter, Apr. 21, 1937, T-580/36/Ordner 23811. Not surprisingly, Lebensborn propaganda adopted the same hostile attitude toward “bourgeois morality.” In an explanatory circular probably compiled in 1938, a Lebensborn publicist asserted, “Sein [Lebensborn's] Kampf geht gegen unterhöhlte liberalistisch bürgerliche und kirchlich dogmatische Anschauungen.” “Lebensborn e.V.,” T-611/7/Ordner 433.

7. Two recent contributions to the growing literature on Himmler's early life emphasize his youthful petit bourgeois behavior. See Smith, Bradley F., Heinrich Himmler: A Nazi in the Making, 1900–1926 (Stanford, 1971),Google Scholar and Loewenberg, Peter, “The Unsuccessful Adolescence of Heinrich Himmler,” American Historical Review, LXXVI, No. 3 (06 1971), 612–41.CrossRefGoogle ScholarCf. Manvell, Roger and Fraenkel, Heinrich, Himmler (New York, 1965),Google Scholarpassim, and Hallgarten, George W. F., “Mein Mitschuler Heinrich Himmler. Eine Jugenderrinnerung,” Germania Judaica, I, No. 2 (1960–1961), 4–7, for earlier accounts which examine the same topic.Google Scholar

8. T-580/Darré Nachlass/329/Ordner 50, pp. 8–12.

9. Ibid., pp. 2–3, for Himmler's opinions on homosexuality, and p. 8 for his attitude on bourgeois materialism. An even stronger criticism of family planning is in “Entwurf für die bevölkerungspolitische Schrift an die SS-Führer,” 1937, T-175/201/2742407.

10. T-580/Darré Nachlass/329/Ordner 50, pp. 7 and 17.

11. That the SS should function as the “racial educator” in redefining German sexual attitudes is suggested in “Entwurf für die bevölkerungspolitische Schrift an die SS-Führer,” 1937, T-175/201/2742410–15. At a later date (Mar. 20, 1940) the current Chief of the Race and Settlement Office, SS-Gruppenführer Günther Pancke, echoed the earlier sentiments of his superior. He wrote Himmler strongly advocating the educational mission of the SS in convincing German society not to ostracize unwed mothers and to appreciate the racial and numerical contribution which illegitimate children could make to Germany's future.T-175/86/2610727–29. An SS-Hauptsturmführer attached to the Sippenamt (Ancestral Office) tersely articulated the pathbreaking role of the SS when describing the aims of Lebensborn in 1937. The SS-Führer asserted: “To demonstrate new measures is one of the tasks conferred upon the SS.” “Ausbildungsbrief Nr. 3 des SS-Sanitätsamtes,” May 31, 1937, Misc. SS Files/SS-811/Box 2, p. 5.

12. For the compatibility of Lebensborn with Himmler's multifarious goals, see “Zwei Jahre Lebensborn-Arbeit,” Jan. 22, 1939, a summary report by Ebner, T-175/17/2520715–26. Cf. Neusüss-Hunkel, Ermenhild, Die SS (Hanover, 1956), pp. 69–70.Google Scholar

13. Himmler often expressed satisfaction over his part in aiding childbirth to his masseur and confidant, Felix Kersten. See The Kersten Memoirs, 1940–1945 (London, 1956), pp. 180–81. His depression over extermination operations is noted in Manvell and Fraenkel, Himmler, p. 184. See Heiber, Reichsführer, Doc. No. 111b, p. 20; Doc. No. 133, pp. 135–36; Doc. No.291, p. 249, for Himmler's preoccupation with Lebensborn minutiae. Doc. No. 207, p. 190, is an excellent example of his “direct approach” with SS men who were reluctant to marry. For his gifts to children, see a list of Patenkinder, Nov. 26, 1944, T-175/R77/2595605ff. T-175/86/2610413–15 contains the Reichsführer's brief and cryptic comments on the Fragebogen of applicants to the maternity homes. Preoccupation with trivialities, a solicitous concern for the welfare of others, and a “mother-hen” attitude toward his family are traits of the young Himmler described by Angress, Werner T. and Smith, Bradley F., “Diaries of Heinrich Himmler's Early Years,” Journal of Modern History, XXXI, No. 3 (09 1959), 206–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar The similarity between his youthful behavior and subsequent adult conduct is rather striking.

14. “Die Pflichten des SS-Mannes und SS-Führers,” T-175/15/2518681–83, demonstrates the chronological sequence of the racial examination and marriage decree criteria. For the inception of educational training in racial hygiene, see a RuSHA information directive, “Das Arbeitsgebiet des Rasse- und Siedlungshauptamt-SS,” Nov. 6, 1941, Misc. SS Files/SS-1994/Box 8.

15. See a chart specifying the organizational transfer of Lebensborn in Military Tribunal Case Number Eight, The United States of America v. Ulrich Greifelt et al. /File Box 28/ Prosecution Document Book II-C (Eng.) /Document Number NO 4153. The trial transcript, prosecution, and defense documentary evidence are deposited in the U. S. National Archives. Hereafter cited as Case 8/Box 28/Doc. Bk. II-C (Eng. or Ger.) / NO 4153.

16. SS membership regulations and salary deductions for Lebensborn are enumerated in an order appearing in the SS-Befehlsblatt: “Beitragsabrechnung des Vereins Lebensborn e. V.,” in “Ausschnitt aus dem SS-Befehlsblatt,” June 25, 1937, U. S. National Archives Microfilm Publication, Microcopy T-354, Miscellaneous SS Records: Einwandererzentralstelle, Waffen-SS and SS-Oberabschnitte, Roll 491/Frame 4241501. Cited hereafter as T-354/491/4241501. For the totals on SS membership in Lebensborn, see “Zwei Jahre Lebensborn-Arbeit,” Jan. 22, 1939, T-175/17/2520715–26. On the numerical size of the SS, see “Zahl der Verheirateten und Gesamtkinderzahl in der SS am 1.1.1939 und 31.12.1939,” T-175/25/2531332.

17. Evidence of financial support received from the Deutscher Reichsverein für Volkspflege und Siedlerhilfe is in a directive from SS-Obergruppenführer Karl Wolff, Himmler's Chief of Staff, to Oswald Pohl, May 8, 1937, Misc. SS Files/SS-2139/Box 8. An “Aktenvermerk” dated July 31, 1942, of SS-Standartenführer Max Sollmann, since May 1940 the Managing Director of Lebensborn, details financial aid from the Reich Finance Minister, Misc. SS Files/SS-2139/Box 8.

18. For the difficulties encountered in opening the maternity homes due to financial and construction problems, see Der Geschäftsführende Vorstand des Lebensborn e.V. to SS-Gruppenführer Oswald Pohl, letter, June 21, 1938, Misc. SS Files/SS-1840/Box 5.

19. On the financial aid to SS families, see “Zwei Jahre Lebensborn-Arbeit,” Jan. 22, 1939, T-175/17/2520715–26. A concise statement on the amount of monetary support rendered to large SS families is in Lebensborn to the SS-Oberabschnitt Fulda-Werra, letter, Sept. 17, 1937, T-354/491/4241511. For the estimate on the total number of families with five or more children, see “Entwurf für die bevölkerungspolitische Schrift an die SS-Führer,” 1937, T-175/201/2742420–21. The 1937 statistics had listed 1,116 families having five or more children. Given the continued poor SS birthrate after 1937, the author's estimate of 1,400 families may be too generous.

20. For propaganda on the desirability of large families, see a Himmler directive, “An alle SS-Führer,“ Sept. 13, 1936, T-611/7/Ordner 433. Two years later the exhortation remained unchanged. See Dr. Ebner's Merkblatt über die Aufnahme in ein Heim des Lebensborn e.V.,” Mar. 1, 1938, T-611/7/Ordner 433. For the increase in contributions paid by SS officers, see “Reichsführer-SS Befehl,” Mar. 20, 1939, T-611/7/Ordner 433. On Himmler's proposal for greater voluntary SS support of Lebensborn see “Zusammenarbeit zwischen Schutzstaffel und Verein Lebensborn e.V.,” Aug. 8, 1936, T-611/7/Ordner 433.

21. “Zahl der Verheirateten und Gesamtkinderzahl in der SS am 1.1.1939 und 31.12.1939,” T-175/25/2531332. Cf. Höhne, Heinz, The Order of the Death's Head: The Story of Hitler's SS (New York, 1969), pp. 157–58.Google Scholar

22. The estimate on the number of children per family among older SS officers as well as their percentage within the entire SS officer corps is based on statistics in “Bevölkerungspolitik im SS-Führerkorps, Stand 1.12.1938,” prepared by the SS-Personalkanzlei, T-175/123/2649249–72. Cf. “Entwurf für die bevölkerungspolitische Schrift an die SS-Führer,” 1937, T-175/201/2742422–31, which has statistics complied by year of birth that illustrate the reproductive performance of senior officers and also contains appended critical comment on their record.

23. “Entwurf für die bevölkerungspolitische Schrift an die SS-Führer,” 1937, T-175/201/2742417.

24. Heinz Höhne describes the frenetic and competitive existence of young SS officers. See his The Order of the Death's Head, pp. 147–51. Himmler himself alluded to the numerous professional obligations required of a young officer when ordering new graduates of the SS-Junkerschulen to postpone marriage until they passed the age of twentyfive, completed certain duty assignments, and were at least two years in grade at the rank of SS-Untersturmführer (2nd Lieutenant). “ Heiratsgenehmigung für die aus den SS-Junkerschulen hervorgegangenen SS-Führer,” Aug. 30, 1937, T-611/7/Ordner 433.

25. For the requirement of four children per SS family, see Himmler's directive to SS officers, Sept. 13, 1936, T-611/7/Ordner 433. The gloomy evaluation on the number of children possible from late marriages is in “Bevölkerungspolitik im SS-Führerkorps, Stands 1.12.1938,” T-175/123/2649251ff. Cf. “Entwurf für die bevölkerungspolitische Schrift an die SS-Führer,” 1937, T-175/201/2742429–30. An example of Himmler's encouragement of early marriage is “Heiratsgenehmigung für die aus den SS-Junkerschulen hervorgegangenen SS-Führer,” Aug. 30, 1937, T-611/7/Ordner 433.

26. For the burdensome marriage regulations procedure, see “Befehl zum Einholen der Verlobungs- und Heiratsgenehmigung,” Mar. 11, 1936, T-580/Darré Nachlass/329/Ordner 50. The reaction of Himmler at the length of the marriage request waiting list is in Himmler to Darré, letter, May 18, 1937, T-580/Darré Nachlass/329/Ordner 47.

27. “Befehl zum Einholen der Verlobungs- und Heiratsgenehmigung,” Mar. 11, 1936, T-580/Darré Nachlass/329/Ordner 50. Cf. “Heiratsgenehmigung für die aus den SS-Junkerschulen hervorgegangenen SS-Führer,” Aug. 30, 1937, T-611/7/Ordner 433.

28. See the tables and charts in “Bevölkerungspolitik im SS-Führerkorps, Stand 1.12.1938,” T-175/123/2649251ff., and “Entwurf für die bevölkerungspolitische Schrift an die SS-Führer,” 1937, T-175/201/2742422–26. Both of these documents emphasize the greater fertility of young marriages.

29. “Zwei Jahre Lebensborn-Arbeit,” Jan. 22, 1939, T-175/17/2520715–26, contains the boast about high racial standards and the disappointment expressed over low admissions. The files of SS-Oberabschnitt Fulda-Werra exemplify one method unmarried expectant mothers employed when seeking entrance to Lebensborn homes. In this instance the mother was the seventeen-year-old daughter of an NSDAP official from the Kreisleitung Wittenstein. The father of her impending child was a soldier, already married with two legitimate children. The girl's father used his SS connections to inquire about Lebensborn facilities, the cost involved in using them, where they were located, and whether they currently had room for his daughter. Der Führer des SS-Oberabschnitt Fulda-Werra to Lebensborn, letter, Sept. 25, 1940, T-354/491/4241409. Lebensborn homes were not expensive. The daily cost was RM 2.00 before childbirth and RM 2.50 thereafter. “Merkblatt über die Aufnahme in ein Heim des Lebensborn e. V.,” Mar. 1, 1938, T-611/7/Ordner 433.

30. “Bevölkerungspolitik im SS-Führerkorps, Stand 1.12.1938,” T-175/123/2649251ff. Cf. Knoebel, Edgar, “Racial Illusion and Military Necessity: A Study of SS Political and Manpower Objectives in Occupied Belgium” (unpub. diss., University of Colorado, 1965), p. 69.Google Scholar

31. A strong argument demonstrating the future potential of Lebensborn and justifying its unspectacular past record is in “Zwei Jahre Lebensborn-Arbeit,” Jan. 22, 1939, T-175/17/2520715–26. The publicity dilemma is admitted in “Ausbildungsbrief Nr.3 des SS-Sanitätsamtes,” May 31, 1937, Misc. SS Files/SS-811/Box 2. Cf. Lebensborn to SS-Hauptsturmführer Hermann Theilen (RuSHA), letter, Dec. 29, 1939, T-611/7/Ordner 433.

32. “Zwei Jahre Lebensborn-Arbeit,” Jan. 22, 1939, T-175/17/2520715–26. The SS membership should have known of Lebensborn's function, inasmuch as a procedural announcement explaining how, when, and where to apply for admittance to the maternity homes appeared in the SS-Befehlsblatt, Feb. 25, 1938. Repetitive announcement of these instructions at the quarterly muster of all SS personnel was required. “Ausschnitt aus dem SS-Befehlsblatt: Aufnahme von werdenden Müttern in die Heime des Lebensborn e.V.,” T-354/491/4241498. Moreover, Himmler had ordered quarterly muster announcements on Lebensborn to take place as early as 1936. “Zusammenarbeit zwischen Schutzstaffel und Verein Lebensborn e.V.,” Aug. 8, 1936, T-611/7/Ordner 433.

33. “Zwei Jahre Lebensborn-Arbeit,” Jan. 22, 1939, T-175/17/2520715–26. See also “Ausbildungsbrief Nr. 3 des SS-Sanitätsamtes,” May 31, 1937, Misc. SS Files/811/Box 2.

34. An English translation of the order is in Sosnowski, K., The Tragedy of Children under Nazi Rule (Warsaw, 1962), pp. 279–80. For the German original, see “SS-Befehl für die gesamte SS und Polizei,” Oct. 28, 1939, T-175/15“Alle Mäner der SS und Polizei,” Jan. 30, 1940, T-175/15/2518680.Google Scholar

35. Himmler elaborated on the various complaints received in a proclamation to “Alle Manner der SS und Polizei,” Jan. 30, 1940, T-175/15/2518676–77.

36. T-175/15/2518676–77. The military apparently accepted Himmler's explanation of SS honor, since an order by General von Brauchitsch on Feb. 6, 1940, encouraged the army to heed the call for an increased birthrate. Significantly, he cautioned the troops to keep their reproductive efforts within the confines of marriage. T-175/15/2518674–75.

37. In a proclamation to SS men and their dependents made shortly after the October 1939 proposal, Himmler emphasized Lebensborn's role in caring for the pregnant unwed mothers and illegitimate children which he anticipated would result from it. “Ausführungsbestimmungen zum Befehl des Reichsführer-SS vom 28.10.1939,” June 19, 1940, T-611/7/Ordner 433. When parents of illegitimate children proved unable or unwilling to marry, mandatory secrecy prevailed not only for personal reasons but also due to state interest in birth registration, health insurance payments, and taxation. Himmler was therefore adamant that SS physicians be sworn to secrecy before their involvement with Lebensborn activities. State legal technicalities were discreetly handled by Lebensborn officials who “processed” the vital statistics before passing them on to the relevant state authorities. Legal difficulties surrounding illegitimate children usually vanished when the Reichsführer-SS became their legal guardian. “Ausbildungsbrief Nr. 3 des SS-Sanitätsamtes,” May 31, 1937, Misc. SS Files/SS-811/Box 2. See also a letter from Ebner to Sollmann emphasizing secrecy on health insurance matters, Jan. 12, 1942, Misc. SS Files/SS-5371/Box 26. The secrecy required to encourage unwed mothers to enter the maternity homes limited the society's efforts to publicize its facilities for legitimate childbirth. On the rare occasions when the homes received publicity, Lebensborn officials discreetly ignored their unwed mothers. Witness the strategy devised for a propaganda film made in 1939: “ In diesem Film sollen, um die Geheimhaltung nicht zu gefährden, nur Mütter gezeigt werden, die verheiratet sind, oder die auf Geheimhaltung keinen Wert legen, und die mit der Aufnahme einverstanden sind. Es wird selbstverständlich darauf gesehen werden, dass nur best aussehende Mütter gefilmt werden.” Lebensborn to Himmler, May 17, 1939, T-175/88/2611445. Cf. a similar response toward a propaganda film made in 1942, T-175/48/2560882. Perhaps Lebensborn succeeded too well in camouflaging its activities. Correspondence during the war reveals numerous queries from several agencies and individuals to prominent SS officials asking if such an institution actually existed. T-175/R95/2615405–13 and 2615357–58.

38. Delarue, Jacques, The Gestapo: A History of Horror (New York, 1964), pp. 70–71.Google Scholar A “sexploitation” account in the “stud farm” genre is Neumann's, PeterThe Black March: The Personal Story of an SS Man (New York, 1959), pp. 74–86.Google Scholar

39. Case 8/Vol. I/Trial transcript, p. 42.

40. The disapproval of a proposal for “selective breeding” in establishments designated as Mütterhöfe is in Heiber, Reichsführer, Doc. No. 332, p. 275. A somewhat similar suggestion by the Reichsgesundheitsführer Dr. Leonardo Conti, prompted by concern for the female surplus confronting Germany, likewise failed to impress Himmler. Conti's idea is in “Erholung der Kinderzahl durch Eheanbahnung, Eheberatung und Wahlkinder,” June 3, 1942, T-175/69/2585959–68. See Himmler to Conti, letter, July 13, 1942, T-175/69/2585949, for the Reichsführer's negative reaction. Cf. Himmler's unfavorable attitude towards a young woman desiring contact with an SS-Begattungsheim, T-175/20/2524619ff.

41. Acknowledgement of Himmler's own two illegitimate children does not necessarily contradict this assertion. The almost furtive manner he adopted toward his second family reflects a petit bourgeois attitude. Precautions were taken to shield their existence from everyone except intimate friends. Moreover, Himmler did not reveal the situation to his legal wife, nor could he bring himself to obtain a divorce, an act which violated principles that he obviously found difficult to discard. Kersten, The Kersten Memoirs, passim. Cf. Höhne, The Order of the Death's Head, pp. 421–22.

42. The estimate appears in a letter from an Oberstabsarzt to VOMI (Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle, Liaison Office for Ethnic Germans), Oct. 15, 1943, Case 8/Doc. Bk. VIII-C (Eng.)/NO 1390/p. 59. See also Misc. SS Files/SS-1038/Box 3; SS-1597/Box 5, SS-1834/Box 5 for similar SS attention directed toward women pregnant by German occupation forces in the Channel Islands, the Netherlands, and Norway, respectively.

43. See for example “Erfassung von Französinnen, die Kinder von Wehrmachtangehörigen erwarten,” 1944, Misc. SS Files/SS-1037/Box 3. In general foreign women were not brought to Lebensborn homes in the Reich. Several occupied areas had their own Entbindungsheime where racially valuable unwed mothers had their babies. Heiber, Reichsführer, Doc. No. 261, pp. 228–29. Apparently no standard procedure existed, since pregnant Norwegian women were shipped to maternity homes in Germany. Case 8/Doc. Bk. VIII-C (Eng.) /NO 4837; NO 2916; NO 3175; and NO 3186/pp. 40–50. The same procedure held also for pregnant women from the Channel Islands, Case 8/Doc. Bk. VIII-C (Eng.) / NO 1390; NO 3217; NO 3218; and NO 929.

44. See above, n.43, Case 8/Doc. Bk. VIII-C (Eng.) /pp. 40–50.

45. “Denkscrift Himmlers über die Behandlung der Fremdvölkischen im Osten (Mai 1940),” Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte, v, No. 2 (Apr. 1957), 194–98. Himmler apparently based much of the above on a document prepared by the Rassenpolitisches Amtder NSDAP entitled “Die Frage der Behandlung der ehemaligen polnischen Gebiete nach ressenpolitischen Gesichtspunkten,” Nov. 25, 1939, Misc. SS Files/ SS-3228/Box 12. For the later implementation of this policy, see Himmler to Arthur Greiser (Reichsstatthalter of the Warthegau), letter, June 18, 1941, T-175/69/2585852.

46. An excellent summary of the “re-Germanization” process is a report of SS-Obersturmführer Harders, “Übersicht über das Arbeitsgebiet der Abteilung C 2 [RuSHA] (Wiedereindeutschung)”, Sept. 25, 1942, Misc. SS Files /SS-1597/Box 5. For the seizure of children, orphans or not, from various locales, see a directive of Dec. 19, 1942,“Eindeutschung von Kindern aus polnischen Familien und aus ehedem polnischen Waisenhausern”, Misc. SS-2027/Box 8; orphans from Russia: SS-5025/Box 23; orphans from the Banat: SS-3242/Box 12; orphans of executed partisans from Oberkrain and Untersteiermark: SS-2416b/Box 10. Lebensborn officials later claimed they only received 400–500 racially valuable children. Sollman Exhibits, Affidavit of Willi Ziesmer, Case 8/Box 26/Doc. Bk. 54 (Ger.). This figure appears extremely low. The exact number remains problematical, although estmates place the totals somewhere in the thousands. Hrabar, Roman, Hitlerowski rabunek dzieci polskich. Uprowadzanie i germanizowanie dzieci polskich w latch 1939–1945 (Katowice, 1960), passim.Google ScholarCf. Koehl, Robert L., RKFDV: German Resttlement and Population policy, 1939–1945 (Cambridge, Mass., 1957), p. 220.Google Scholar

47. List of Lebensborn homes and nursing staff, Apr. 1944, Misc. SS Files/SS-2138/Box 8.

48. Sollmann Exhibits, Affidavit of Dr. Hans-Hilmar Staudte, Case 8/Doc. Bk. I (Ger.)/Doc. No.5, p. 12.

49. A voluminous report (38 pages) of unknown date and origin (probably a RuSHA document produced in 1943) concisely lists the division of labor for SS population policy. Misc. SS Files/SS-3119/Box 12. See Misc. SS Files/SS-3358/Box 13, and SS-5024, 5025/Box 23, for the activities of the Nationalsozialistische Volkswohlfahrt. “Unterbringung von Kindern im Warthegau,” Sept. 16, 1943, Misc. SS Files/SS-3240/Box 12, is an informative description of Lebensborn foster-child operations.

50. Representative examples of agency “bickering” over organizational competency: Misc. SS Files/SS-5352/Box 26, which includes a quarrel over maternity-home jurisdiction in Cracow, 1942; Misc. SS Files/SS-4876/Box 21 depicts a squabble between Lebensborn and the NSV over spheres of influence, 1942. For “power struggles” through-out the population program, see Koehl, RKFDV, pp. 163–66.

51. Direct aid given by Dr. Gregor Ebner to a widow seeking shelter for herself and four children, June 4, 1942, is in Misc. SS Files/SS-2431/Box 10. The list of Ebner' speaking tours, Mar. 31, 1941, is in Misc. SS files/SS-6005/Box 28.

52. For sketchy indications on the volume of illegitimate children born during the war years, see T-175/R76, R77, and R95/passim. Lebensborn testimony on the birth totals is in Sollmann Exhibits, Affidavit of Dr. Hans-Hilmar Staudte, Case 8/Doc. Bk. I (Ger.) /Doc. No. 5, p. 12a, and Sollmann Exhibits, Affidavit of Willi Zeismer/ Case 8/Box 26/Doc. No. 54.

53. SS birth totals in 1941 are in a report of Dr. Richard Korherr, Inspekteur für Statistik, to Himmler, Sept. 18, 1942, T-175/24/2529147–51. For SS total strength in 1941, see “Gesmtstärke der SS am 31. Dezember 1941”, T-175/60/2576464.

54. Fear of bombing attacks prompted a letter from an SS-Untersturmführer to the 2. SS-Standarte, Frankfurt a.M., Aug. 4, 1940, seeking permission for his wife to enter a Lebensborn home, T-354/491/4241427. For claims advanced on the safety from bombing and better maternity facilities, see the Trial Brief of Sollmann and Ebner, Case 8/Box 46, p. 21.

55. Indicative of Himmler' interest in and support of female infertility research were his comments on two learned papers written in 1944: “Vorschläge zur Behandlung und Heilung der Empfängnisunfähigkeit der Frau und der Zeugungsunfähigkeit des Mannes,” T-175/20/2524539–40; “Weibliche Unfruchtbarkeit, ihre Ursachen und die Möglichkeit ihrer Verhütung,” T-175/145/2673232–56. See the “suggestions” which Himmler made to SS men who remained bachelors too long in Heiber, Reichsführer, Doc. No. 277, p. 239, and Doc. No. 365, p. 297. On obtaining medical advice when pregnancy faied to result, see his correspondence with Reichsgesundheitsführer Dr. Conti, 1942, T-175/69/2585959–68. Cf. Heiber, Reichsführer, Doc. No. 210, p. 192.

56. “Planmässiger Urlaub”, Aug. 25, 1943, T-175/71/2588499. Propaganda accompanied the directive on “furloughs,” exhorting SS men not only to concentrate on the present enemy but to remember that a future peace in Germany and the world depended on the next generation. Hence, they should look to their biological duty. “Mahnung und Verpflichtung,” T-175/71/2588508–509.

57. “Nachstehender Befehl zur Kenntnisnahme und Bekanntgabe: Betrifft: Lebensborn e. V.,” Nov. 18, 1944, T-175/15/2518670–71.

58. Himmler exhibited reluctance concerning artificial insemination of unmarried women in correspondence critical of Dr. Conti's proposal, “Erholung der Kinderzahl durch Eheanbahnung, Eheberatung und Wahlkinder”, June 3, 1942, T-175/69/2585959–67. See Heiber, Reichsführer, Doc. No. 226, pp. 207–209, for his “scientific” analysis of artificial insemination potentialities.

59. An example of personal disgust is a diatribe by Hauptdienstleiter Dr. Gross, “Zur Frage des uneheliche Kindes als Problem der deutschen Bevölkerungspolitik,” Oct. 1944, U. S. National Archives Microfilm Publication, Microcopy T-84, Miscellaneous German Records Collection/153/1520891–914. Dr. Gross concluded that no population crisis existed in Germany and a radical eugenics policy encouraging illegitimate children was unnecessary. For examples of guilt feelings, rationalizations, and romantic deceit among SS men and their women, see Heiber, Reichsführer, Doc. No. 326a, pp. 269–70; Doc. No. 380a, pp. 304–305; Doc. No. 387, p. 311. See also T-175/88/2611350 for a report of unhappiness among women in a Lebensborn home. For marital conflict prompted by infidelity, see T-175/R77/2595845–47. Illegitimate children also produced suicides, T-175/R77/2595496–502.