Nazikinder, Paula Hitler, & other relatives.

I'll point you to Sorens thread
http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/holocaust/23548-commandant-auschwitz-9am-12-01-2010-a.html
It was an interesting program where Barbara Cherish, the daughter of a Commandant of Auschwitz, spoke of what she had found out about her real father (she was adopted to an American family at age 13). Not sure if it is still available on iPlayer

 

An interesting read.

Nazis' grandchildren probe past | Detroit Free Press | freep.com

 

I remember reading the book about the children of prominent Nazis and the different ways that they coped. Gudrun Himmler, Heinrichs daughter spent her life trying to defend her Fathers actions, whilst Bormann's son became a pastor and pacifist. They each tried to cope in different ways. I agree with Diane, the sins of the Father should not be passed on to the Children. They are in no way culpable for what went before them.

 

Dear Diane,

"Despite also being the daughter of a WW2 British soldier, when I was younger people tried to label and bully me solely because of my German ancestry. This was done mostly out of ignorance, and as a result now I really don't care what folks assume; that's up to them"

This happened to a lot of German/Americans in the US as well. In Pennsylvania we have so many Germans that during our Civil War there were 8 German Newspapers in our city and only two English. Most of the churches were lead in the German Language.

During WWI names were changed to more traditional English names for consumer goods.

In WWII Americans of German decent were still being harassed, and many of us have been living here since the 1700's.

No I agree with you, it is their problem not ours. We know where our loyalty and citizenship lives.

Diane being a Heilman did not mean anything until 1939 then it was Heil Hitler. Growing up I must have heard this the first day of school for years, Heil Heilman.

It had not happened in sometime then my wife Nancy got a new job. Some one of another Ethnic Group who are very sensitive as to what people call them started doing the Heil thing to Nancy. This guy was suppose to be an adult. Finally Nancy said to him "How would you like me to call you such and such every time I see you"? He said no he would not like that and Nancy said I don't appreciate hearing Heil Heilman every time you see me. That was the end of it.

I was a the dentist and did not get to talk to the man, they called him Mr. Hightller, but it was spelled Hitler, I saw it when I signed in. We have Hilters in the USA, some who were related to Adolf and some who were not.

This man must have taken a beating as well with the name Hitler.

 

Yeah, I'll be watching this tonight for sure. Fascinating subject. I remember reading about the children of the Nazi leaders, and how they coped in different ways. The grandchildren also faced the same dilemma.

 

Over the years,I have seen a few interviews of the sons and daughters of the leading Nazis.All gave a good insight to the lives of the families of the regime's top echelon.Tonights programme may be made up from these previous works.

One thing sticks out in my mind and that was the interviewing of Martin Bormann's son,Martin Adolf,Adolf after his Godfather.He came across as a well balanced individual willing to acknowlege and relate the terror that the Nazi regime stood for.

Bormann,the king of the Obersalzberg,treated his wife as the NSAP decreed...Kinder,Kirk und Kuchen, while he was able to entertain his various mistresses.

Contrast Martin Adolf with Gudrun,Himmler's daughter. She saw no wrong in her father and the Nazi regime.She is noted for her active welfare support for SS veterans to the present day.Will be surprised if she is interviewed.

Saw quite a moving documentary on the daughter of Jeckeln,the SS Police mass murder of the Ukraine and the Baltic countries.His daughter found out who her father was as a teenager and made a journey back to the Baltic countries in a search for her father's wartime activity and an atttempt to come to terms with his acts.(Her father was publically hanged in Riga,the scene of his inhumanity in 1946....hanged by being drawn off a open cart when the horse was made to gallop...retribution for his victims.)

 

BBC News - Nazi legacy: The troubled descendants

 

Really enjoyed the programme, powerful viewing indeed.

 

indeed

 

"Brigitte Höss lives quietly on a leafy side street in Northern Virginia. She is retired now, having worked in a Washington fashion salon for more than 30 years. She recently was diagnosed with cancer and spends much of her days dealing with the medical consequences.

"Brigitte also has a secret that not even her grandchildren know. Her father was Rudolf Höss, the Kommandant of Auschwitz.

"It was Rudolf Höss who designed and built Auschwitz from an old army barracks in Poland to a killing machine capable of murdering 2,000 people an hour. By the end of the war, 1.1 million Jews had been killed in the camp, along with 20,000 gypsies and tens of thousands of Polish and Russian political prisoners. As such, Brigitte’s father was one of the biggest mass murderers in history."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/hiding-in-n-virginia-a-daughter-of-auschwitz/2013/09/06/1314d648-04fd-11e3-a07f-49ddc7417125_story.html?hpid=z4


Dave

 

Children Of The Enemy - BBC Sounds

Martha Kearney explores the remarkable story of German children who were fostered by Dutch families soon after the end of the Second World War. More than 50 years on, some of these children revisit their former foster homes. More than 60,000 German children being fostered by Dutch families would appear to be 'a kind of miracle' only years after brutal Nazi occupation. The children stayed for six months between 1948 and 1950. In addition to several personal recollections, Barbara Martin returns to the house she stayed in as an eight-year-old to meet Aunt Coby who fostered 14 children during that time. Producer: Hans Pietsch First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2001.

 

"In 1944, Willy Hitler joined the fight against his uncle Adolf by enlisting in the U.S. Navy. Initially rejected, he received permission to serve after writing to President Franklin Roosevelt and getting cleared by the FBI. He later changed his name and lived quietly in New York until his death in 1987. He had four sons who never had children of their own, ending Hitler's paternal bloodline."

See... https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=488592252929370&id=100053357980297