20,000 Children Born for the SS - Lebensborn Program

The Nazis built their racial state on the foundation of eugenics and selective breeding. In December 1935, the SS created the Lebensborn program, the so-called “Fountain of Life,” to ensure that Germany’s future would be filled with children deemed racially pure. Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS, who considered the SS the biological elite of the Reich, envisioned a new aristocracy born from carefully chosen unions. The program accepted only those who could prove Aryan ancestry and health. Applicants were screened for hereditary illnesses, mental conditions, or any sign of what the regime labeled racial impurity. A family history of disability or weakness could mean disqualification. The Nazis claimed that even qualities like loyalty and bravery could be inherited, and thus they sought to manufacture them through breeding. The regime put enormous pressure on women. Unmarried mothers carried heavy stigma in society, yet Himmler sought them out if they were racially valuable. Lebensborn homes offered anonymity, medical care, and a safe place to give birth on the condition that the mothers surrendered guardianship to the SS. The children could be adopted into loyal Nazi families or raised in state institutions, cut off from their origins. At the same time, the state criminalized abortion for “healthy” women while forcing sterilizations and abortions on those judged unworthy. In this way, Nazi ideology split society: to one group, motherhood was elevated as a patriotic duty, while another group was stripped of the right to reproduce. Narrator: Marchand Steenkamp. Join World History channel and get access to benefits:    / @worldhistoryvideos   Disclaimer: All opinions and comments below are from members of the public and do not reflect the views of World History channel. We do not accept promoting violence or hatred against individuals or groups based on attributes such as: race, nationality, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation. World History has right to review the comments and delete them if they are deemed inappropriate. ► CLICK the SUBSCRIBE button for more interesting clips:    / @worldhistoryvideos   #lebensborn #leagueofgermangirls #hitleryouth #WWII #ww2 #nazi #history #holocaust #documentary #europe #adolfhitler #worldhistory #history #worldwar2videos #Wehrmacht #germany #german Lebensborn, Lebensborn program, Lebensborn program in Norway, Lebensborn meaning, what is Lebensborn, Lebensborn documentary, Nazi eugenics, Eugenics Germany, Racial hygiene, Nuremberg rally, Hitler Youth, Heinrich Himmler, Lebensborn home, Nazi SS, SS men, 1936 Nuremberg rally, Nazi children, Nazi kids, Facts about the nazis