Having Babies for Hitler: The Life of Hildegard Trutz

At the age of 18, Hildegard Trutz had everything going for her. She was young, smart and beautiful. More importantly, she was the right kind of beautiful for 1936 Germany. She was blond, with blue eyes and wide hips suited to giving birth.

But before her 18th birthday, Hildegard had been making waves in her local chapter of Bund Deutscher Mädel, also known as the BDM. The BDM was the women’s version of the infamous Hitler Youth.

Hildegard’s Nordic appearance made her quite the popular member. She enjoyed the weekly meetings and was incredibly proud to be a part of Nazi Germany.

It was this popularity that led her, once she became an adult, to become a guinea pig for one of the Nazi’s lesser-known but still wildly unsettling organizations. It was called the Lebensborn, or “Fountain of Life”.

In the Lebensborn, Hildegard Trutz would be one of a number of girls to produce a child for Nazi Germany–not to keep, but simply for the good of the movement.

Having Babies for Hitler

When Hildegard Trutz finished school, she didn’t have any solid plans for her future. She was still an active member of the BDM, but other than that, she didn’t have anything coming up on the horizon.

This indecision led to her receiving a suggestion from one of the BDM leaders: “If you don’t know what to do, why not give the Fuhrer a child?”

Of course, they weren’t referring to Hildegard having a child with the Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler, directly. Instead, they volunteered for a brand new Nazi organization called the Lebensborn.

At the time birth rates in Nazi Germany were falling. There was a demand for more Aryan children. Nazis wanted blond-haired, blue-eyed babies, and they had a much better chance of getting them from blond, blue-eyed mothers.

Hildegard fit the bill perfectly. Being such a staunch supporter of the movement, Hildegard took the suggestion to heart and volunteered herself for the Lebensborn.

In the end, thousands of babies would be born and put up for adoption for high-ranking Nazi couples. But before Hildegard could join the ranks of expectant mothers, she would need to pass some tests first.

Women talking with Hitler. Image Source: Spartacus Educational

Hildegard Trutz: Perfect Aryan Woman

Since she wasn’t certain that her parents would approve of her plan, Hildegard told them that she would be taking a course in National Socialism. They happily waved her goodbye.

They no idea that she was actually off to participate in a program of supposedly “pure” women to sleep with SS officers and give birth to their children.

Hildegard wasn’t deterred, though. She was ready to do her part for her country.

Along with a bevy of other girls, Hildegard was taken to a castle in Bavaria that had been outfitted for the Lebensborn program. Once arrived, she underwent a battery of medical tests that she easily passed.

Next, Hildegard’s past was investigated to make sure that her lineage was pure. The Nazis needed to confirm that she had Aryan ancestry at least back to her great-parents. More importantly, they were checking that there was no Jewish blood to speak of in her family lines.

Despite this thorough investigation, both the girls and the SS officers would go under assumed names. While the entire idea of the program was cold and detached, the castle was quite luxurious for the girls, serving delicious food and providing all sorts of entertainment–including a cinema!

Hildegard passed all the tests that were thrown at her. She was soon approved for the next step in the program: getting pregnant.

Pregnancy and Birth for Nazi Germany

After testing and ancestry investigations, the last step was for Hildegard to sign over any rights to her child after birth. She signed willingly.

Shortly afterward, Hildegard and her compatriots were introduced to the SS officers who would father their children.

Like the women, the SS officers all sported blond hair and blue eyes. They were fit and young, and Hildegard wasn’t displeased with the appearance of her potential partners. Before she chose which man she would sleep with, the women were allowed to “date” the men.

There were events around the castle for them to partake in, like games and watching movies together. After the pairings had been made, the women would wait for 10 days from the beginning of their last cycle.

There was a final medical exam. Afterward, the SS officers were ordered to go to the women’s rooms.

It may have been different for some of the other girls, but Hildegard was visited by her SS officer three times in the first week. Shortly after, she discovered that she was indeed pregnant.

Her pregnancy marked the end of Hildegard’s time at the Bavarian castle. She was moved to a home for expectant mothers to await her birth.

Hildegard Trutz gave birth to a healthy baby boy, but it was not an easy experience for the young woman. She was given no pain relief or aids of any kind. But Hildegard succeeded.

Trutz was allowed to keep her son with her for two weeks following birth, giving her time to breastfeed him before he was whisked away to his new family. She never saw the boy again.

After Lebensborn

Hildegard Trutz didn’t hate her time as a breeding mother for Nazi Germany. In fact, she considered continuing her duty to her nation and having more children. But she fell in love with another officer and married the man straight away.

After later confessing her part in the Lebensborn program, she expected her husband to be proud, but he was less than thrilled. There was no room for him to criticize his new wife, though, since she had just been doing her duty. Just like he was when he served in the Nazi military.

It is thought that over 20,000 babies were produced due to this program. The program where they were adopted by officers and Nazi loyalists if they were born early enough. By normal German families if they were born too late.

Like so many other records, the records of the birth and the identity of the Lebensborn babies were destroyed by the Nazis when it became clear they were losing the war. This left thousands of people with no knowledge of who they were, or where they came from.