Children of Nazis – The Sons and Daughters of Himmler, Göring, Höss, Mengele, and Others – Living with a Father’s Monstrous Legacy

By Tania Crasnianski

Children of Nazis is the fascinating story of eight children of Third Reich leaders and their journey from descendants of heroes to descendants of criminals

Children of Nazis is the unprecedented examination of the relationships between elite Nazi officers and their children that analyzes how each descendant copes with the legacy and weight of their parents’ actions during the Holocaust. With stories of both condemnation and worship, Children of Nazis offers fascinating new insights into these descendants’ lives and examines the question of whether or not these children should bear responsibility for their fathers’ war crimes.

In 1940, the German sons and daughters of great Nazi dignitaries Himmler, Göring, Hess, Frank, Bormann, Speer, and Mengele were children of privilege at four, five, or ten years old, surrounded by affectionate, all-powerful parents. Although innocent and unaware of what was happening at the time, they eventually discovered the extent of their father’s occupations: These men – their fathers who were capable of loving their children and receiving love in return – were leaders of the Third Reich, and would later be convicted as monstrous war criminals. For these children, the German defeat was an earth-shattering source of family rupture, the end of opulence, and the jarring discovery of Hitler’s atrocities.

How did the offspring of these leaders deal with the aftermath of the war and the skeletons that would haunt them forever? Some chose to disown their past. Others did not. Some condemned their fathers; others worshiped them unconditionally to the end. In this enlightening book, Tania Crasnianski examines the responsibility of eight descendants of Nazi notables, caught somewhere between stigmatization, worship, and amnesia. By tracing the unique experiences of these children, she probes at the relationship between them and their fathers and examines the idea of how responsibility for the fault is continually borne by the descendants.

https://www.warhistoryonline.com/press-releases/children-nazis-sons-daughters.html

God, imagine being the fruit of Himmler's loins? Of all the Nazi scum he's the one that gives me the creeps the most. I'd quite happily take a claw hammer to his face.

HoratioTarr wrote:God, imagine being the fruit of Himmler's loins?   Of all the Nazi scum he's the one that gives me the creeps the most.  I'd quite happily take a claw hammer to his face.

I agree, Himmler always seemed to be the man pushing the worst of the Nazi policies

Apparently his daughter still thinks he was a good man and she is a committed Nazi who has allegedly helped former Nazis escape justice.
Goebbels killed his children in the Furher Bunker or at least Magda his wife suposedly did, then killed themselves.

Vintage wrote:Apparently his daughter still thinks he was a good man and she is a committed Nazi who has allegedly helped former Nazis escape justice.
Goebbels killed his children in the Furher Bunker or at least Magda his wife suposedly did, then killed themselves.

Yes Gudrun is her name. He had 2 other children, a boy and girl, with his mistress Hedwig but I have never been able to find out much about them. The boy was sickly and the daughter became a doctor. Apparently Hedwig denied them contact with Gudrun. Hedwig died in 1997. There’s probably papers at the Bad Arolsen Center.

Yes Magda killed them after Hitler committed suicide. Her oldest son Harold Quant, by a previous marriage, survived.

Another good book which I own is Legacy of Silence by Dan Bar-On. “Legacy of Silence is a moving and upsetting document about family life in the Third Reich and its repercussions in contemporary Germany. Between August 1985 and October 1987, Israeli psychologist Bar-On traveled to Germany on four occasions to speak with men and women whose fathers had served in the Nazi elite. His book records 13 from over 50 such meetings. The voice of the author remains audible throughout the text, questioning, probing, commenting, and ever pointing out ambivalences.”

In it he talks to a nephew of Heydrich who is open about his name and also the son of Martin Bormann although his name was protected at that time, who subsequently became a priest, among others. Incredibly moving book, hard to read at times

Goring's brother Albert, seems to have been the opposite of his brother helping Jews surivive the war.

What is also interesting and appalling to note, is how many top Nazi's and murderers were helped in escpaing by the Catholic church and given new identities provided by the Red Cross. Many nazi's escaped through what was called the "Rat lines". Of course the allies became aware of these and did nothing and even worse started to use them to get out Nazi's of use they needed themselves.

Didge wrote:Goring's brother Albert, seems to have been the opposite of his brother helping Jews surivive the war.

What is also interesting and appalling to note, is how many top Nazi's and murderers were helped in escpaing by the Catholic church and given new identities provided by the Red Cross. Many nazi's escaped through what was called the "Rat lines". Of course the allies became aware of these and did nothing and even worse started to use them to get out Nazi's of use they needed themselves.

And don’t forget the western Allies helped them as well. They needed the bureaucrats to get Germany back up and running in order to block Communist Russia.