What Happened to the Children of Nazi Leaders? Part 1

 

By Sherri Stewart

Phrases such as, “Like father, like son,” and “Chip off the old block” are familiar to most people. Ask any teacher who has dealt with students who are bullies, and they’ll tell you the chestnut doesn’t fall far from the tree. Let’s look at the offspring of Nazi leaders to see if the adages are true. The results may be surprising.

Nazi propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, and his wife, Magda, had six children—five girls and one boy, born between 1932 and 1940, who lived with their parents during the war—Helga, Hildegard, Helmut, Holdine, Hedwig, and Heidren. All accounts say the Goebbels were a close-knit family, who enjoyed spending time on their yacht, and the children loved riding their ponies. However, as the war was coming to an end, on May 1, 1945, as the family hid in a bunker, Magda fed her children poison and killed them all, then she and Joseph took their own lives.

Magda had another son, Harald Quandt, from a previous marriage who wasn’t living at home during the war but had grown up as a stepson of Goebbels. He was serving in the war as a lieutenant in the Luftwaffe, but he was captured as a prisoner of war in Italy by the Allies and wasn’t released until 1947, two years after the war ended. After the war, Harald earned his degree in mechanical engineering and helped his birth father rebuild his automotive and tool industries. When his father died in 1954, Harald inherited 200 companies from pharmaceuticals to textiles, and he became one of the wealthiest men in West Germany. Harald was a jet-setter but died in a plane accident, leaving his five daughters billions.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harald_Quandt

Heinrich Himmler was known as the architect of the Holocaust. His wife, Margarete, and he had one daughter, Gudrun, whom he nicknamed ‘Püppi,’ but he also had two children by his mistress. Although Himmler’s marriage was strained, Margarete and he stayed together for the sake of Gudrun, who adored her father. Although he was rarely at home, he called Gudrun every few days. After the war, Margarete and Gudrun were arrested, spent time in internment camps, and were forced to testify at the Nuremberg Trials against Himmler. Gudrun later bitterly referred to this time as the most difficult of her life and said that she and her mother were treated as though they had to atone for the sins of her father. She remained loyal to the Nazi party throughout her life. Gudrun worked for an organization that helped SS officers escape, including Klaus Barbie, the Butcher of Lyon. Up until her death in 1988 in Munich, she remained loyal to her father’s memory, and people who knew her said Gudrun held him up on a pedestal as the perfect father.  

“The Angel of Death,” Josef Mengele, performed deadly experiments on prisoners at Auschwitz Birkenau concentration camp. He and a team of doctors selected the victims to be killed in the gas chambers, and often he was the one to administer the gas. He and his wife, Irene, had one son named Rolf, who was born in 1944. Rolf was only one year old when his father escaped to South America. He was brought up by his mother and grandmother in Germany. Although he’d never met his father, Rolf received letters from him using false names. Rolf became obsessed with meeting his father, somewhat out of curiosity but also because he wanted to know the truth. In 1977, Rolf traveled to Brazil under a false passport. Although his father denied any wrongdoing during the war, saying his job was to determine who was fit to work, Rolf didn’t believe a word he said. Rolf returned to Germany, never revealing Mengele’s location, but vowed never to see him again. Rolf changed his last name to his mother’s and died in 1985.

There are many more stories to tell, but one thing becomes clear. If the child had a close relationship with the father, the child was more inclined to look favorably on the father. If the father had a more distant relationship with the child or if the father treated him harshly, the child was more inclined to distance himself from the father and even disavow what the father did. Next month, we’ll look at more examples. 

Selah Award finalist Sherri Stewart loves a clean novel, sprinkled with romance and a strong message that challenges her faith. She spends her working hours with books—either editing others’ manuscripts or writing her own. Her passions are traveling to the settings of her books and sampling the food. She traveled to Zürich for Secrets Dark and Deep. A widow, Sherri lives in Orlando with her lazy dog, Lily. She shares recipes, tidbits of the book’s locations, and other authors' books in her newsletter.

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Secrets Dark and Deep

TV anchor, Maddie Caldecott, has a secret so deeply buried within that she doesn’t remember it. But the man called Absalom knows her secret, and his threats to exact his revenge are becoming more and more intrusive. As an investigative reporter, Maddie can dig out the truth of any story, but she can’t unearth the secret she’s blocked until it’s too late.

Police Detective, Brody Messner, is at his wits end. How can he protect Maddie if she resists his every suggestion? His need to protect her has become personal. From Orlando to Zürich, he follows her, trying to stay one step ahead of her assailant—all of his notes to her, and the song. https://bit.ly/49gE1wp