Mitra - Pólo de Inovação Social / Pavilhão D

Beco da Mitra, 1950-051 Lisboa

10 . 10 . 2026 → 15 . 11 . 2026

thursday - sunday → 02:30 pm – 06:30 pm

Artist

Angeniet Berkers

In 1935, Germany launched a programme to provide the Third Reich with a new generation of leaders and a future elite: Lebensborn ('Fountain of Life'). The architect behind this plan, Heinrich Himmler, intended to use the children born under this programme to improve the 'racial quality' of the population of the Nazi Reich. Due to falling birth rates, abortion and contraceptive methods were banned, whilst families with children received financial incentives. Before they left for the front, SS officers were encouraged to father as many children as possible, even outside marriage.

In Lebensborn homes across Europe, both married and unmarried women who met the characteristics of the 'Aryan race' could give birth. When it became clear that the programme was not yielding the desired results, the Nazis also abducted children with blond hair and blue eyes from Poland and the former Yugoslavia, whom they then 'Germanized'. After the war, these children and their families were often stigmatized and sometimes mistreated or abused. Many grew up surrounded by secrets.

Berkers documented the experiences of nine individuals now in their eighties. She came across objects and documents that revealed how National Socialist ideology permeated every aspect of the Lebensborn homes. The project includes measuring devices used to determine 'Aryan' ancestry. Berkers also visited former homes, photographing the buildings, interiors and surrounding landscape.