LilMtnCbn
07-03-2004, 05:45 AM
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0702NorwayWarBabies02-ON.html
Norway seeks to make amends with Nazi 'war babies'
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Associated Press
Jul. 2, 2004 01:30 PM
OSLO, Norway - Norway wants to make amends with its so-called war babies, those
who were abused and mocked as they grew up because their fathers were German
soldiers during the Nazi occupation of the Nordic country in World War II.
Nearly 10,000 children were born to Norwegian mothers and German fathers and
many have complained of a lifetime ruined by hatred, exclusion and abuse
following the 1940-45 Nazi occupation.
Many Nazis believed that Norwegians with blue eyes and blond hair represented
the Aryan ideal and German soldiers were encouraged have affairs with Norwegian
women.
"Society must take responsibility, among other things, for the systematic abuse
many war babies were subjected to," Justice Minister Odd Einar Doerum said
Friday.
Doerum proposed compensation of as much as $28,600 for those who "faced strong
suffering, loss and unreasonableness."
The national association for the war babies, Lebensborn, said $71,400 would be
a reasonable settlement and called the offer an insult. The group was not
available for further comment.
In postwar Norway, the children, now in their late 50s and early 60s, faced
derision as "Nazi Babies." Others were separated from their mothers, sent to
children's homes, given up for adoption or institutionalized at psychiatric
hospitals.
Given the time, and the varying degrees of abuse they may have received, Doerum
called for the creation of a panel to review any claims and ultimately set the
individual level of compensation.
Seven of the children sued the government for compensation in the Oslo City
Court in 2001, but lost because the statute of limitations expired in the
1980s.
However, in 2002, parliament ordered the government to seek ways of making
amends with the group.
-------------------------
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail . . . but, a true friend will
be sitting next to you saying, "Damn . . . that was fun!"
-----Unknown
Norway seeks to make amends with Nazi 'war babies'
advertisement
Associated Press
Jul. 2, 2004 01:30 PM
OSLO, Norway - Norway wants to make amends with its so-called war babies, those
who were abused and mocked as they grew up because their fathers were German
soldiers during the Nazi occupation of the Nordic country in World War II.
Nearly 10,000 children were born to Norwegian mothers and German fathers and
many have complained of a lifetime ruined by hatred, exclusion and abuse
following the 1940-45 Nazi occupation.
Many Nazis believed that Norwegians with blue eyes and blond hair represented
the Aryan ideal and German soldiers were encouraged have affairs with Norwegian
women.
"Society must take responsibility, among other things, for the systematic abuse
many war babies were subjected to," Justice Minister Odd Einar Doerum said
Friday.
Doerum proposed compensation of as much as $28,600 for those who "faced strong
suffering, loss and unreasonableness."
The national association for the war babies, Lebensborn, said $71,400 would be
a reasonable settlement and called the offer an insult. The group was not
available for further comment.
In postwar Norway, the children, now in their late 50s and early 60s, faced
derision as "Nazi Babies." Others were separated from their mothers, sent to
children's homes, given up for adoption or institutionalized at psychiatric
hospitals.
Given the time, and the varying degrees of abuse they may have received, Doerum
called for the creation of a panel to review any claims and ultimately set the
individual level of compensation.
Seven of the children sued the government for compensation in the Oslo City
Court in 2001, but lost because the statute of limitations expired in the
1980s.
However, in 2002, parliament ordered the government to seek ways of making
amends with the group.
-------------------------
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail . . . but, a true friend will
be sitting next to you saying, "Damn . . . that was fun!"
-----Unknown
