

Eventually, nine Lebensborn homes were added in Norway, two in Austria and one each in Belgium, Holland, France, Luxembourg and Denmark. The first opened in 1936 in Steinhoering, a small village near Munich.Īs World War II raged on and the Nazi’s began to invade and conquer other countries in Europe, it gave Himmler an opportunity to expand the Lebensborn program. Initially, there were 10 Lebensborn homes and all were located within Germany. Alternatively, they could leave their children in Lebensborn homes, where the children would receive the best of care and, of course, a Nazi education. Pregnant women who could prove their children’s Aryan lineage were given special financial support and special treatment by the government. As it turned out, the Third Reich only lasted 11 years. Hitler’s plan was to complete the last third of a trio that included the First Reich (the Holy Roman Empire), and the Second Reich (the Hohenzollern Dynasty), both of which lasted about a thousand years each. The Lebensborn Program was a method for the Nazi’s to reverse the birthrate decline and at the same time create a superior Aryan master race, which would dominate Europe as part of German Fuehrer Adolph Hitler’s Third Reich, or Thousand Year Reich. By 1933, the birthrate per thousand was only 14.7%. Due to tough economic times, and a shortage of marriage-age men, particularly after Germany’s defeat on Novemin the First World War, the use of birth control and women seeking abortions became common practices. Beginning in the early 1900s, Germany’s birthrate was in decline.
