Lebensborn: The history of Nazi-born children in Lorraine

In 1946, two sanitary trains arrived at the Commercy station in the Meuse department of France, carrying 66 young children repatriated from Germany. Among these children, approximately 15 were identified as having been born in a Lebensborn, a Nazi maternity program promoted by SS leader Heinrich Himmler to select infants based on racial and morphological criteria to create an ‘Aryan’ race.

To facilitate adoption, the children in Meuse were given new identities, including modified dates and places of birth. While a Lebensborn facility also operated in Lamorlaye, France, between February and August 1944, the broader history of these children has only recently gained more recognition.

In recent years, efforts to preserve this history have been led by the association ‘Pour la mémoire des enfants des Lebensborn’, founded in 2016 by Walter Beausert and Gisèle Niango. Commemorative efforts include a plaque unveiled in 2019 at the hospital in Commercy.