Many "former children" ( now people in their sixties) , born in "Lebensborn" institutions, which were part of the Nazis program to breed the ultimate Aryan master race are now suing Norway at the European court of human rights. Their complaints include decades of discrimination, denial of proper education, in some cases beeing locked away in mental institutions. Because they were "children of the enemy"...

'Lebensborn' Victims Head to Court: Children of Nazi Program to Sue Norway - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News

Oh my god.
I did not knew about this Lebensborn.
Its unbelievable what Norway did to them. And it does not seem they mad already a really clear table about this issue.

The Nazis were pretty much the ultimative evil, but the post war Norwegian state brought it also pretty far on a scale of cruelty and abuse regarding the childrens of Lebensborn...

They had already to endure Lebensborn, but that was nice in comparison to what came after the war...

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What did the state of Norway actually do to these people? That's what I don't understand. It sounds like Norwegian SOCIETY discriminated against them, not the state.

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Both did.
Many of those children it seems were improsened into psyachatries for the mere fact that they were Lebensborn children. Those facilities were statesrun as far as I could see. They did supposedly stuff like testing drugs like LSD on them or lobotomy...

A doctor even made the analysis that because the women who slept with Germans where highly mad for sure, those Lebensborn alltogether are mad and psychos.

So yes, it was the society that made their lifes to hell. But the state seems to be responsible for the worst acts against them.

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Wow, that's pretty insane. I don't see why the state took such a hardline against them. Norway cooperated with the Nazi's to fight Russia, didn't they?

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Some Norwegians did. Those who counted did. (But its not exactly as they had a choice anyway) That does not mean that the Nazis were much liked after the war. Quite the opposite.

Norway has a long history of unwanted "unions"

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No, Norway was occupied after a rather bloody struggle with the far superior German military forces. The Germans imposed a puppet government controlled from Berlin while the Norweigan exile government fled to London to lead the Norweigan resistance movement. During the occupation, the Norweigan army was under the direct controll of Berlin and the legislative power rested in the hands of the German Reichscommisar. There where certainly collaboraters within the Norweigan society, mostly National Socialists or just ordinary opportunists, but the armed resistance was far more numerous. It should also be noted that the mothers of theLebensborn where considered collaboraters (wether they all where or wether some where forced into the program, I do not know).

While I agree that the faith of the Lebensborn is tragic and the treatment of the Lebensborn has been a shameful chapter in Noweigan history, it is not worse than the treatment of other groups during the same time in Norway and other parts of Europe. They where wrongfully viewed as nazi-collaborators, tainted by the sins of their "creators". Tragic, but not very surprising. At least they where not sterilised, unlike other groups in Scandinavia.

What you are actually saying is that this is just the peak of an iceberg. The scandalous inhumane practice regarding those Lebensborn children was not a totally isolated case but there were many other cases like this or as you even point out, even worse.

I am not sure in which direction your argument goes, but for me this sounds like pretty hard stuff. I hope there has been a large and deep public debate already about those crimes against humanity.

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Yes, it`s the tip of an iceberg. I`m not an expert on the situation for the lebensborn in Norway, but I believe that certain ethnic and social minoritees have been treated with even worse prejudice in Europe during this period. One example would be the Roma people that has been subjected to prejudice on a rather large scale (and in certain parts of Eastern Europe they are still treated as "sub-humans"). The scandinavian countries also sterilised many women who where deemed unfit for breeding, even after world war II. Mostly trash-proletarian women that where diagnosed as "promiscous", but also mentally handicaped women where subjected to sterilisation campaigns. This practice also occured in the US in this period.

There have been substantial debate about these practices (at least in Sweden) and reperations and appologies have been made. It does not rectify the wrong, but at least there is some awareness and recognition to this (shameful) part of our modern history.

I guess my point or my position in the argument is that the treatment of the lebensborn was rather disgraceful and cruel, but should not be viewed as an isolated practice.

Well, thanks for your contribution anyway. Its interesting to hear from the first hand perspective. I mean you are probably from Scandinavia, aren't you? Are you even from Norway?

Btw, welcome here on board.
I hope you look a bit around here, and find some issues that interest you. Feel also free to open new threads on issues you would like to debate with other members.

If you like you can also post a short introduction of yourself here: http://www.politicsforumpoliticalwor...announcements/

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