Fount of Life Registered Association

"Every mother of good blood shall be holy to us" - Heinrich Himmler

"All our struggle, the death of the two million in the world war, the political fight of the last 15 years, the build-up of our Wehrmacht for the protection of our borders, would be in vain and pointless if the victory of the German spirit is not followed by the victory of the child." - Heinrich Himmler

## Overview of Requirements

* Great Proof of Descent - paperwork proving Aryan ancestry since January 1, 1800.
* Hereditary health questionnaire - Information about possible hereditary burdens in the family had to be completed.
* Medical examination form - Proof of health and for the "racial assessment" examinations by licensed doctors.
* Personal questionnaire with questions about her profession, health insurance, party affiliation, marriage intention, etc., and submit a handwritten CV with photographs.
* Unmarried expectant mothers also had to submit an affidavit that the specified man was the father of the child.
* The expectant father also had to submit all the documents. SS members were exempt only if the marriage permit for the mother had already been issued by the Race and Settlement Main Office.

## Tasks and Aims

In 1935, the Reichsführer-SS founded Lebensborn e.V. The task of this charitable association is to place expectant mothers of good blood under the protection of the Reichsführer-SS. Lebensborn differs from all the other institutions of the National Socialist state that undertake similar tasks on a nationwide basis; its work involves the application of the strict genetic selection principle of the Schutzstaffel [SS] To carry out its task, Lebensborn has created maternity homes in every part of Greater Germany whose facilities suit the needs of our times.

## Who will be accepted?

The Lebensborn homes have been created for the wives of members of the SS and the German Police as well as, in general, married mothers on their own and unwed mothers who need special protection. The prerequisite for admission to the home is proof of good health, genetic health, and Aryan descent up to and including the grandparents. This proof must be furnished by the father and mother of the child-to-be.The Lebensborn homes are maternity homes; they are not suited for convalescent care. Requests for the granting of a convalescent stay will be passed on by Lebensborn to other competent authorities.

## Housing

Mothers-to-be can be admitted to the following homes:

1. FREILAND home
2. HARZ home
3. HOCHLAND home
4. KURMARK home
5. OSTMARK [Austria] home
6. POMMERN [Pomerania] home
7. TAUNUS home

The names of the homes generally denote their geographical location. The exact address of the homes will be provided if the application for admission is likely to be approved. To avoid delays, the application for admission to a home must be addressed to the Reich Central Office of Lebensborn e.V., Munich 2, 3–7 Herzog-Max-Strasse. Any applications for admission that are sent to the homes will be forwarded to the Reich Central Office for processing.

## Expectant mother application

The mother-to-be should, if at all possible, apply during the first months of her pregnancy for admission to a Lebensborn home, so that protection and care can begin at an early stage.

### Clothing

During the newborn’s stay there, every Lebensborn home makes the complete layette available at no cost. If the mother takes the baby with her when she is released, she will need clothes for the infant and accessories for the trip home. Exact instructions concerning the layette, where required, will be given to the expectant mother in good time by the Reich Central Office of Lebensborn.

### What is the cost of the stay in the home?

If the mother-to-be has health insurance, she must make her contribution to the costs incurred by her stay in the home, by assigning to Lebensborn all the maternity benefits paid by her health plan. If the plan offers a nursing mothers’ bonus, the health insurance provider pays it directly to the mother. To prevent the expectant mother from losing her claim to the maternity benefits offered by her health plan, she must, within 21 days of leaving her place of employment, apply to her health insurance provider for optional continued insurance at the previous level of contribution. Then, all the mother-to-be needs to do is state to Lebensborn that she agrees to transfer the health-plan benefits; everything else will be arranged by Lebensborn. If a mother receives health-plan maternity benefits in excess of the costs incurred at the home, Lebensborn will refund the excess amount. If the expectant mother does not have health insurance, Lebensborn will make a special arrangement with her.

### Portion of costs for which the child’s father is responsible

The father of a natural (illegitimate) child is required by law to pay, within reason, the costs incurred for an unwed expectant mother as the result of the birth of a child. Lebensborn sets the amounts to be paid by the child’s father in accordance with his economic circumstances. It is therefore necessary for the child’s father to fill out the questionnaire accurately, set forth his economic circumstances in greater detail, and enclose pay slips or pay statements as proof of his income. It is also advisable to submit a list of the monthly expenses to be paid out of his net wage. The economic situation of the child’s parents has no bearing on the decision regarding admission to a Lebensborn home.

### Child's Mother Questionnaire

Once the application for admission to a Lebensborn home has been received by the Reich Central Office, two questionnaires are mailed out to the mother-to-be that very day, if at all possible. The CM questionnaire must be filled out by the expectant mother herself, on her own behalf, with the greatest care and promptly returned to the Reich Central Office, so that the processing is not delayed. Meticulous answering of all the questions is important, because time-consuming queries should be avoided, and because imprecisely answered questions can bring about misunderstandings that lead, in some circumstances, to rejection of the application for admission. Particular attention is also to be given to the questions about the health-insurance situation of the expectant mother. With regard to photographs (which are required for completion of the application), the most appropriate ones are so-called amateur photos taken recently, if they represent the mother (if possible, the father too) of the expected baby in a realistic way.

The photos of both parents must be submitted in duplicate.

### Child's Father Questionnaire

The CF questionnaire must be filled out with the same care by the father of the expected child. If the mother-to-be is no longer in contact with the child’s father, or if she does not wish to reestablish contact with him, she should fill out the CF questionnaire herself, to the best of her ability. In this case, all negotiations with the father of the expected child will be conducted directly by Lebensborn.

### Proof of Aryan descent

Lebensborn makes available to both parents an ancestral chart going back to the grandparents. All entries in this ancestral chart must be documented by the corresponding birth and marriage certificates or by a certified Ahnenpass. All the documentation submitted will be returned immediately after verification. If it is not possible, for special reasons, to mail in the documents for proof of Aryan descent, they can, as an exception, be submitted at a later time if examination of the other records leaves no room to doubt the impeccably Aryan origin of both parents.

### Proof of good health and genetic health

Proof is furnished by means of a medical examination of both parents. For this purpose, Lebensborn sends out a questionnaire in a sealed envelope, which is to be turned over, unopened, to the examining physician. The physician will send it back to the Reich Central Office of Lebensborn. The examination can be performed by any physician licensed in Germany. The costs of the examination are borne by the parents of the child. In cases of proven economic need, Lebensborn will defray the costs.

### The affidavit

Lebensborn assumes guardianship (before the birth, trusteeship) of the natural (illegitimate) children born in its homes. The mother-to-be must be able to declare under oath that, during the legal period of possible conception in her case, she had intercourse only with the man whom she is naming as the father of the baby she expects. Without this declaration, no expectant mother can be admitted to a Lebensborn home. The printed form for making the affidavit will be made available to the expectant mother by the Reich Central Office. At the same time, she will be told the dates of the legal period of possible conception (the time intervening between the 302nd day and the 181st day before the birth). The affidavit is one of the most important elements for the negotiations of Lebensborn with the father of the child. It is self-evident that the mother of the child must make the affidavit statement with the greatest care imaginable.

### The marriage license

If the child’s parents have a marriage license from the Race and Settlement Main Office of the SS in Berlin, they generally do not need to furnish separate proof of good health, genetic health, and Aryan descent; in this case, it is sufficient to submit a certified copy of the marriage license. If special circumstances make it impossible for the child’s parents to have a certified copy of the marriage license made, the original also can be mailed in to Lebensborn. This document will be returned to the senders without delay, by registered mail.

If the child’s parents have not yet received the marriage license but have already submitted all the required documentation to the Race and Settlement Main Office of the SS, Lebensborn must be informed of the number of the certificate of insurance or the family group number under which the request for permission to marry is being reviewed at the SS Race and Settlement Main Office. In this case too, the child’s parents do not need to furnish proof of good health, genetic health, and Aryan descent again. But if more than six months have passed since permission to marry was granted, fresh proof of good health is required. Because Lebensborn requires, for proof of good health, genetic health, and Aryan descent, very specific information that is generally not requested, the evidence of this type that often had been furnished previously to other offices cannot be used as a basis for the decision on admission to a home.

### Children of single mothers

Every single mother can take her child home once she is released from the maternity home, if she herself is able to give the child proper care and education, or if the child is in good hands with her family members or relatives. Permission to take the child with her must be obtained in good time from the Reich Central Office of Lebensborn.

If the child remains in the maternity home after the mother is released, a monthly fee of 45 Reichmarks is charged for his care from the 1st through the 6th month of his stay. If, for special reasons and with special permission, the child must stay in the home for more than six months, the monthly costs (from the beginning of the 7th month) amount to 60 Reichsmarks. Maintenance payments (child support payments) will be counted toward the costs incurred for the child’s stay in the maternity home.

### Foster care

If the mother, when the child is released from the maternity home, is not yet able to take her child home with her or to house it with family members or relatives, Lebensborn, with her agreement, will arrange for a carefully selected foster home. By placement of the child in foster care, the rights of the mother to her child are not restricted. The costs incurred by the foster home are calculated in the same way as those for the child’s stay in the maternity home. Growing up in the family circle is of fundamental importance for the full development of the child’s abilities and aptitudes. Even the most diligent, loving care in an institution can never substitute for the value of an upbringing within the family.

### Adoption

If it presumably will never be possible for the mother to take the child into her home and care for it herself, and if she is willing to sacrifice for her child by giving him, through adoption, a good upbringing in a family, Lebensborn can arrange for an adoption, if adoption proves advisable for the child. The Reichsführer-SS reserves the right in each individual case to grant permission for the adoption placement suggested by Lebensborn. Each mother thus has, if applicable, the guarantee that her child will have the best adoptive parents imaginable.

### Protection of single mother-to-be

To protect the single expectant mother of good blood from the still-present danger of ostracism, Lebensborn has been equipped with special facilities that guarantee the concealment of the pregnancy and birth under certain conditions. The father of the child also can be completely included in the secrecy arrangements with respect to the outside world, if he carries out his obvious duties.

### Facilities

Every home has its own registration office. Exact instructions for filing the notice of departure for the police will be issued separately, on a case-by-case basis. Every home has its own civil registry office. As a result of Lebensborn’s special facilities (registration and civil registry offices), all the requisite record-keeping can be handled within the Lebensborn sphere.

### Health insurance

The offices of the health insurance plans, in principle, have the duty of strict official discretion. If health plan benefits are utilized, there is normally no danger that secrecy will be violated.

### Legal protection of single mothers

Lebensborn assumes trusteeship of the expected child and, after the birth, guardianship. At the same time, Lebensborn takes responsibility for the legal protection of all interests of the mother and her child with respect to the father, at no cost to her. Lebensborn’s Legal Department will provide every mother and mother-to-be, at no cost, with all legal information that falls into Lebensborn’s area of work.

### House Lifestyle

Upon request, Lebensborn will place every mother who has given birth in a Lebensborn home in a new job in keeping with her knowledge and abilities, wherever possible. The expectant mother who wants to enter a Lebensborn home needs to know that a home community awaits her. Community in the National Socialist sense, however, means comradeship involving direct personal participation. In addition, the expectant mother needs to know that a Lebensborn home is not a sanatorium. To improve her physical and mental well-being, every mother has to take part in easy household chores, as the physician in charge deems necessary.

### Medical supervision

All Lebensborn homes are under the direction of physicians. Every home has nationally certified nurses in sufficient numbers. Even if operative deliveries are performed in the operating theaters, which have modern equipment, the Lebensborn homes do not convey the impression of being hospitals or maternity hospitals. They are, in every way, true homes with a family atmosphere, in which the mothers-to-be bring their children into the world in a completely peaceful setting with a sense of emotional security.

The mother is expected to perform the little duties assigned to her with a cheerful, conscientious attitude. It is imperative to comply with the house rules issued for the Lebensborn homes by the Reichsführer-SS. Mothers-to-be who think they cannot fit into the comradely spirit of the home because they prefer a period of idleness to light activity activity will be disappointed in the Lebensborn homes.