Finally compensation for kidnapped children

A petition by the Freiburg association "Stolen Children - Forgotten Victims" was finally successful: children from Eastern Europe who were abducted by the Nazis are to be compensated.

77 years after the end of the Second World War, the country wants to recognize kidnapped children as victims of the Nazi regime. People who were abducted as children by the Nazis from Poland and other occupied territories are now to receive compensation from a special fund. The petition was brought in by the Freiburg association "Stolen Children - Forgotten Victims".

Rolf Klein: robbed as a two-year-old

"Rolf Klein, born on March 8, 1943 in Kraków," says the birth certificate that the former Freiburg innkeeper has on his living room table along with old photos. Whether that's true - who knows. One thing is certain: Rolf Klein is a kidnapped child. The 79-year-old lives with the name of an unknown. She had missed her child after the war. It turned out that he wasn't her son, but the name stuck.

"They didn't give a fuck. The main thing is that the guy has a name and was born at some point and that's it."

Rolf Klein, kidnapped child, Freiburg

A woman Schneider is said to have brought the then barely two-year-old to Germany and there to a Lebensborn children's home - allegedly through Polish camps. His condition was poor when he was taken into the care of an unmarried peasant woman.

"I had a hungry stomach and just a shirt over it when they took me from the children's home."

Rolf Klein, kidnapped child, Freiburg

Scars are evidence of abuse

Three scars on the abdomen - presumed saber stabs - bear witness to the suffering suffered to this day. The memory of it is missing. Because he is circumcised, he may come from a Jewish family. It is likely that the Nazis killed his parents. All investigations into his childhood came to nothing. Rolf Klein made the best of his situation and always looked ahead. But as you get older, some memories come back to you.

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Rolf Klein's birth certificate: He got his name from a stranger. It is unclear whether the date of birth is correct. (Photo: SWR, Gabi Krings/Rolf Klein)

Rolf Klein's birth certificate: He got his name from a stranger. It is unclear whether the date of birth is correct.

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Rolf Klein at primary school age: He had a good childhood with his foster mother. (Photo: SWR, Gabi Krings/Rolf Klein)

Rolf Klein at primary school age: He had a good childhood with his foster mother.

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Rolf Klein's birth certificate: He got his name from a stranger. It is unclear whether the date of birth is correct. (Photo: SWR, Gabi Krings/Rolf Klein)

Rolf Klein's birth certificate: He got his name from a stranger. It is unclear whether the date of birth is correct.

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Rolf Klein at primary school age: He had a good childhood with his foster mother. (Photo: SWR, Gabi Krings/Rolf Klein)

Rolf Klein at primary school age: He had a good childhood with his foster mother.

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Rolf Klein's birth certificate: He got his name from a stranger. It is unclear whether the date of birth is correct. (Photo: SWR, Gabi Krings/Rolf Klein)

Rolf Klein's birth certificate: He got his name from a stranger. It is unclear whether the date of birth is correct.

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Hermann Lüdeking: Allegedly found in Lodz

Hermann Lüdeking knows a little more about his fate. The 86-year-old now lives in Bad Dürrheim (Schwarzwald-Baar district). As a child, like Rolf Klein, he was blond and blue-eyed. A woman who was leader of the "Bund deutscher Mädel" (female branch of the Hitler Youth) during the Nazi era raised him. The real parents are unknown: "I was found in Lodz in front of a public building, so they said, and then I was put in a children's home."

Successful petition: Kidnapped Children

Successful petition: Kidnapped Children

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Hermann Lüdeking still remembers how he played with a friend in the children's home when they were called to the head nurse. Frau Lüdeking, his future foster mother, was waiting there.

"The head nurse said: Ms. Lüdeking, you can choose one of the two children and take it with you."

Hermann Lüdeking, kidnapped child, Bad Dürrheim

Substitute for fallen son

The foster mother had previously lost her son at the front and wanted a replacement. As a convinced National Socialist, she chose a blond, blue-eyed child. Hermann Lüdeking says he was always treated well. He knew he was a foster child, rumor had it his parents had died. He only found out much later that he was actually kidnapped from Poland and born as "Roman Roszatowski". After the death of his foster father, he took the documents proving it. His foster mother then broke off contact with him.

Kidnapped Children to "Aryanize the Race"

In the early 1940s, the Nazis abducted tens of thousands of children from the occupied eastern territories - because they were blond and blue-eyed. It was Reichskommissar Heinrich Himmler's idea to consolidate the "Aryan race" in this way, explains Christoph Schwarz from Freiburg from the "Stolen Children - Forgotten Victims" association.

Re-education in Lebensborn children's homes

The children were violently torn from their families and placed in so-called Lebensborn children's homes. There they were "Germanized" - that is, they were given new names and were only allowed to speak German. The upbringing methods were strict. Children who did not want to comply were severely punished.

"The children were beaten and some were even whipped. There are people who are still in psychotherapy today, some have committed suicide because they couldn't cope with the trauma."

Christoph Schwarz, Association "Stolen Children - Forgotten Victims", Freiburg

Christoph Schwarz in front of the Bundestag in Berlin: For years he and his association have been fighting for compensation for the kidnapped children. (Photo: SWR)

Christoph Schwarz in front of the Bundestag in Berlin: For years he and his association have been fighting for compensation for the kidnapped children.

Finally recognition as a victim of the Nazi regime

For more than ten years, the association has been fighting at federal and state level for reparations and for recognition as victims of the Nazi regime. Finally, the petitions committee in the Stuttgart state parliament has approved an application. All parliamentary groups were in favour, confirms Thomas Marwein, chairman of the Petitions Committee and member of the Greens from Offenburg. Those affected should be compensated quickly and unbureaucratically from a special pot.

"As a state, we don't want to shirk responsibility, even if the federal government is actually responsible for it."

Thomas Marwein, Chairman of the Petitions Committee, MdL Offenburg

Compensation has always been refused

Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU), also from Offenburg, had previously refused compensation as Federal Minister of Finance for years. The children were fine, according to the argument that Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann (Greens) later referred to. But now, 77 years after the end of the war - at least from the country - some money should flow.

Few survivors left

For Christoph Schwarz from the association "Stolen Children - Forgotten Victims" this is a success, albeit a later one. He had asked for compensation twelve years ago. In the meantime, many of the victims have already died, according to the activist. Currently, only three survivors are known in Baden-Württemberg. It would therefore be necessary for the surviving dependents to also be entitled to compensation. It would be just as important that those affected who no longer live in the state but who were interned in Baden-Württemberg, for example in the Lebensborn children's home in Illenau (Ortenaukreis), are also considered.

Recognition comes late

The decision also comes too late for Rolf Klein from Freiburg: "There is a good will at the moment, but for me it's basically irrelevant." Hermann Lüdeking from Bad Dürrheim is also resigned. Nevertheless, he also feels satisfaction that his fight was not in vain.

"The compensation is satisfying for me, not because of the money, but because we are recognized as kidnapped children!"

Hermann Lüdeking, kidnapped child, Bad Dürrheim

Hermann Lüdeking has been searching for his roots for over 20 years. He is happy that he is finally being recognized as a victim of the Nazi regime. (Photo: SWR)

Hermann Lüdeking is happy that he is finally being recognized as a victim of the Nazi regime.

Kidnapped children in a National Socialist children’s home in Poland (Photo: SWR, Gabi Krings (original photo by Hermann Lüdeking))

ABDUCTED IN WORLD WAR II

BW wants to compensate children kidnapped by the Nazi state

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