Lebensborn Maternity Home Wienerwald, 1938–1945

Research on the History of the Maternity Home based upon Unique Sources

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Established in Pernitz/Feichtenbach in 1938, the Heim Wienerwald served the SS association Lebensborn as a maternity home to increase the birth rate of “Aryan” children. This volume brings together recent research on the history of the Heim Wienerwald based upon unique sources: the articles focus on the maternity home in the wider context of National Socialist racial policy, presenting findings on the regulations for keeping births within Lebensborn secret, the requirements for admission to Lebensborn, and the assessment of mother and child. Secondly, the volume examines everyday life in this facility and the extent to which the stay of pregnant women and mothers was regulated in the context of National Socialist ideology. Thirdly, it provides an insight into the experiences and everyday life of the staff , especially the student nurses. Fourthly, the volume deals with the children born in the Heim Wienerwald who did not meet the “selection criteria” of the SS and were murdered as part of the National Socialist child “euthanasia” programme.