Established in Pernitz Feichtenbach in 1938 the Heim Wienerwald served the SS association
Lebensborn as a maternity home to increase the birth rate of "Aryan" children. This volume
brings together recent research on the history of the Heim Wienerwald based upon unique
sources: the articles focus on the maternity home in the wider context of National Socialist
racial policy presenting findings on the regulations for keeping births within Lebensborn
secret the requirements for admission to Lebensborn and the assessment of mother and child.
Secondly the volume examines everyday life in this facility and the extent to which the stay
of pregnant women and mothers was regulated in the context of National Socialist ideology.
Thirdly it provides an insight into the experiences and everyday life of the staff
especially the student nurses. Fourthly the volume deals with the children born in the Heim
Wienerwald who did not meet the "selection criteria" of the SS and were murdered as part of the
National Socialist child "euthanasia" programme.
