Dark memories: how recreation homes shaped children forever

Dark memories: how recreation homes shaped children forever

Bettina Rosenberger, now 61, is reluctant to remember 1975. She spent her summer vacation in a recreation home in the Black Forest, where she felt trapped. "As in prison," she describes the strict rules that prevailed there. Twelve hours of rest were announced, and even a toilet was a forbidden undertaking. Anyone who was caught when whispering had to be in the cold hallway - a punishment that should be remembered for a long time.

Rosenberger returned quietly and sad from this time, very different from the happy child she had once been. The memories of the bad food and the forbidding of any sound are still present for them. These experiences not only shaped her childhood, but also her later life, since she often acted carefully and anxiously to avoid conflicts.

The reality of the sentence children

The project group in the State Archives of Baden-Württemberg has now found that more than half of the violence and abuse at the time had suffered. For over two years, researchers and around 100 affected people have examined the effects of this "sending". Rosenberger is one of many whose history has been influenced by a doctor who recommends sending her parents to the home to enable them to "free". Your childhood was damaged by this intervention.

reports on abuse and isolation

experts appreciate the total number of the nationwide affected sentence children between 8 and 12 million. Many affected people reported strict rules, physical punishment, as well as sexualized violence and malnutrition. The facilities were often underfunded, which led to a dangerous negligence of the educators. Once in the facility, the children often felt more than animals in a cage than happy children who should recover.

In the Black Forest there were more than 470 such homes between 1949 and 1980, whereby this number could still increase, since more and more such places are being documented. "The children were very afraid that they could no longer go back home," said project manager Christian Keitel at the presentation of the results in Stuttgart. Much of the homes were chronically poorly equipped and the supervision left to be desired.

The exhibitions and reports enable the survivors to finally hear something that has often been denied to them in the past. Rosenberger himself only managed to talk about her experiences many years later. "I thought I would hurt my parents if I tell them about it," she admits. Even today, she takes part in self -help groups that help her process what you have experienced.

The return after the holidays was a shock for many children because they did not find the support they needed at home. Rosenberger remembered the moment when her father picked her up at the train station; She broke out in tears - not out of joy, but out of a deep pain that nobody seemed to be recognized. "I didn't want them to have a guilty conscience," she said. This shows how hard it was for those affected to share their experiences in a time when such topics were largely killed by society.

It seems that the topic of the sentence children is increasingly gaining attention. Experts and those affected now demand that the terrible stories are finally recognized and taken seriously. The persistent processing of these dark chapters of German history is not only an act of memory, but also a necessary step towards justice and recognition for all the children who suffered from the devastating conditions.

For more details and a precise examination of this topic, a report offers in the Article by www.schwaebische.de interesting insights and a deeper context.