How were the War and the Lebensborn program Linked?

Answer 1

The Lebensborn Programme was of a piece with the rest of Nazi racial theories and policies. The goal of the programme was to produce more "pure" Aryans for the Fatherland. Suitable young women were recruited, after a thorough genealogical investigation, to participate. They were sent to resort hotels taken over for the project, where they mingled with suitable Aryan males. The males were almost all SS men, who, at least in the early days of the SS, had to provide genealogical data back eight generations to ensure they were of proper "Aryan" stock before they were accepted into the SS. Good SS men were sent to the Lebensborn centers as a reward for their performance in the field. Stern duty, but, someone has to do it! Then nature was encouraged to take its course. After delivering her child for the Fatherland the young women would be sent back home with a pat on the head. The fathers were never told if their efforts were productive. The children born were placed for adoption with "suitable Aryan" families. These Lebensborn children are all at or well past retirement age now, and, if they have discovered the circumstances of their birth, have had to cope with the knowledge that they came into the world as a product of such a bizarre government policy and programme. Most have kept this knowledge to themselves, feeling it is shameful, and to avoid being thought a freak.