Time travel: Children’s imports to Denmark

After the Second World War, many “mixed-race children” from Germany were adopted in Denmark.

Sometimes the children had to be hidden under clothes in the back seat so that they would not be discovered by officials at the border between Schleswig-Holstein and Denmark. It was not allowed to bring the children from Germany to Denmark. After the Second World War, thousands of "mixed-race children" were born in Germany. Especially in southern Germany, German women often had children from American, colored occupation soldiers. Unwanted by society, they were deported to care homes. And for decades these German children were then brought to Denmark.

Illegal adoptions into the Kingdom

The Danish woman Tytte Botfeldt was responsible for most of the adoptions. She had good contacts with German care homes and with Danish couples who wanted children. She organized trips from Danes to Germany, during which children were then brought to the kingdom. Many of the children were hidden in their new homes because the adoptions were illegal. After two years, however, the children were considered socialized in Denmark and usually received Danish citizenship. More than two thousand children were adopted in Denmark in this way.

Stories of "mixed-race children"

It was considered the easiest and cheapest way for Danes to adopt children. However, there was no monitoring of how the children fared after the adoption, how they were treated. Some of the adoptive parents were overwhelmed, had alcohol and drug problems, and some Danes adopted up to six children at once. Our journey through time tells - based on old film footage - of the German "mixed-race children" in Denmark and their stories as adopted children.