Where can I find information regarding the orphanages for mixed children in Nazi Germany?

Question

I cannot remember what they were called, and as a result I am unable to find basic information regarding them. From what I remember, a bunch of women from territories occupied by Nazi Germany were brought in for cheap, often domestic labor. A number of them became pregnant, and nearly all of their children were placed in very neglectful orphanages by the state. I want to say that there were tens of thousands of such children.

Does anyone have more information on those orphanages?

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

You are asking about "Ausländerkinder-Pflegestätte", though many other terms where used. Pflegestätten were established after a decree by Heinrich Himmler in 1943.

The children where separated, shortly after birth, from their mothers so the mothers could return to their forced labor. The babies would be kept in abysmal conditions with systematic malnourishment (only a quarter liter milk a day) and neglect. There're estimates that 100,000 - 200,000 children died in these so called Pflegestätten.

The Pflegestätten were kept in an organizational chaos with unclear responsibilities. This way they fulfilled the role to systematically murder children, without anybody having to give explicit orders to that effect. The so called Pflegestätten were not secret, neighbors etc. must have known what was happening.

All this is cribbed from the German wikipedia page above. This document has an english language chapter about children of forced laborers.