The Polish Nurse

Previously known as “Before Berlin”, The Polish Nurse officially releases this week! This is the stand-alone prequel to the Berlin Butterfly Series and tells the story of Ella’s mom, Aleksandra and how Ella ends up in a Berlin orphanage.

Author’s Notes-

This story has given me an even greater appreciation for the people of Germany who did not blindly follow Adolf Hitler’s beliefs… the ones who stood up to the atrocities in both quiet and bold actions, and my heart goes out to those who were caught in the crosshairs, despite their valiant efforts.

It was important in this novel to represent both the good and the bad people of Germany and though it is easy for us to look back and make judgments as to why people did what they did, we don’t always know the whole story. For example…why would a Polish, non-Jewish woman remain in Germany after what they had done to her people? Surprisingly, many did and for many personal and unexplained reasons.

When Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, the underequipped Polish army could not withstand the forces of the Third Reich. The Blitzkrieg, itself, was designed to obliterate anyone in their path and within a month of fighting (mere days and weeks in some areas), the Germans took occupation of the eastern parts of Poland annexing them into Nazi Germany.

Much of what Aleksandra described in the first few months of occupation is true with the closing of many of the schools (with the exception of a few that had German ties, such as her private school), execution of government leaders, teachers, and priests, searches and seizures in private homes, creation of the Łódź ghetto and its forced Jewish and Romani inhabitants, and banishment of anything Polish such as the language, arts, and culture.

The Lebensborn (Fount of Life) Program was founded on the 12th of December 1935 by Heinrich Himmler after discussing his concerns over racial purity with Adolf Hitler. Initially, the different facets of the program were designed to encourage women to voluntarily breed with racially pure German men to create the perfect type of child. The girls who were involved with Hitler Youth were taught that their greatest role should be that of a mother and bring German children into the world. In fact, it is documented that when these girls would attend nationalistic conferences, many would return home pregnant.

Lebensborn homes were designed to be a comfortable place for a German woman to give birth, and if she could not raise the child with the country’s ideals, adoptive parents would be provided. The women who voluntarily entered the program were examined much like it was described in the story; they also had to prove their German heritage went back to their grandparents. They were then given the opportunity to live in a place where recreation and leisure activities were provided, as well as carefully selected officers who would impregnate them. They never exchanged personal information about one another and once the woman was confirmed to be with child, the man would stop coming to her bedroom. The pregnant mother was well taken care of and when the child was a couple of months old, he/she was placed with an ideal German adoptive couple.

However, as German losses mounted, leadership worried that the pure race would also vanish and moved to more drastic means to promote their beliefs. The program then evolved into the abduction of blond, blue-eyed children between the ages of 2-12, many times seized right in front of their parents, categorized, and placed in homes known to follow the Third Reich ideals. It is believed over ten thousand children were kidnapped and only 15 percent were returned to their birth parents after the war.

When the Germans began their occupation of other countries, they recognized a new pool of candidates with the fair, blond, and blue-eyed women—women from Norway, Denmark, Austria, Yugoslavia, France, Netherlands, and Poland. At this point it did not matter that they were not considered pure Germans, they had the correct Aryan features, therefore with the right German man, they would produce exemplar children.

We have since learned that this process, at times, required abduction and rape. There are estimates of over twenty thousand children born into the Lebensborn program, but no specific numbers associated with the enforced part are verified—only the word of the women who were subjected to such heinous acts. The identity of the German fathers was kept secret and many of the documents were destroyed at the end of the war.

Author J. Elke Ertle goes into great detail about the Lebensborn program in her book titled, Walled In—A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom. https://walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/lebensborn-nazi-baby-farms-during-hitlers-reign/

Also, a firsthand account is given by participant Hildegard Koch https://spartacus-educational.com/Hildegard_Koch.htm