MEGA EPISODE: Children of WWII – Indoctrination, War & Trauma I SLICE HISTORY

Chapters:
Stolen Childhood Trauma Third Reich EP1: The Propaganda (00:00:00)
Stolen Childhood Trauma Third Reich EP2 : The fear of death (00:46:43)
Stolen Childhood Trauma Third Reich EP3 : The trauma (01:32:50)
Baby Cages (02:25:52)

They are curious, gullible and still malleable in their development. It was not only in the Third Reich that warring powers shamelessly exploited the naivety of children. In the first episode of the three-part documentary, contemporary witnesses talk about how they experienced Nazi propaganda from a child's perspective. Author Hilke Lorenz and child and youth psychologist Dr Andreas Krüger tackle the question of how a child's soul can endure so much cruelty.

Documentary: Stolen Childhood Trauma Third Reich EP1: The Propaganda (2016) (00:00:04)
Directed by: Katharina Hoier
Production: SPIEGEL TV

The little ones sacrifice the most precious thing they have for the cruel war of the grown-ups: their childhood. In the second part of the three-part documentary, Günther, who was brought up as a communist, tells how he fought for his life as a child soldier at the front for Nazi Germany. Author Hilke Lorenz and child and youth psychologist Dr Andreas Krüger tackle the question of how a child's soul can endure so much cruelty.

Documentary: Stolen Childhood Trauma Third Reich EP2 : The fear of death (2016) (00:46:43)
Directed by: Katharina Hoier
Production: SPIEGEL TV

When wars are over and the homeland lies in ruins, the souls of war children are also destroyed. In the final part of the three-part documentary, Monika tells how as a child she feared for her father who had gone missing in the war and later secretly wished he had never come back. Author Hilke Lorenz and child and adolescent psychologist Dr Andreas Krüger tackle the question of how children can bear the trauma of war.

Documentary: Stolen Childhood Trauma Third Reich EP3 : The trauma (2016) (01:32:50)
Directed by: Katharina Hoier
Production: SPIEGEL TV


In 1945, Hitler continued to deny the apparent defeat that awaited him. In a final insane attempt to turn the tide of the war and make up for the lack of soldiers old enough to go into battle, he recruited massively from among the Hitler Youth, enlisting children as young as 12 years old. These little soldiers were sent to fight battles that they had no hope of winning. Nonetheless, as a rule, they fought zealously. As the Allied troops advanced, they were shocked to discover that there were also children among the countless German prisoners.

Around 10 000 of these young fighters, who were both persecutors and victims, would be taken prisoner by the American Army and sent to Attichy POW camp in France. The Nazi Regime had trained these children. Yet, astonishingly, the Americans immediately considered and treated them as victims. An original and little-known re-education program started at Attichy Camp to steer them towards an attitude of tolerance and democracy. It was called "Baby Cages". Winfried Börsch was held there. At the time, he was 16 years old.

Today, he'll tell us how he ran away and got arrested before being sent to the "Baby Cages". His experience reflects the fate of thousands of other child soldiers. His testimony along with numerous archive images will take us deep into the heart of Nazi indoctrination and the ensuing liberation of the minds of these young children, who had been forced into being a part of a devastating system.

Documentary: Baby Cages (2016) (02:25:52)
Directed by: Marie Börsch
Production: Les Films en Vrac

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