Himmler Maternity Hospital

Heim Hochland Institute in Bavaria, 1944. Peace and quiet reign in the model Nazi maternity hospital, providing the most harmonious environment possible for children born for the new SS order and their mothers. A young French woman, Renée, who became pregnant by a German soldier, finds refuge here until the birth of her unwanted child. Nurse Helga cares for the well-being of the future mothers and newborns, but she also witnesses the tragic fates of women and situations where “unsuitable” children are simply “eliminated”. Her rock-solid convictions begin to crumble. Marek, a Pole, was brought here from Dachau to work on the construction of new buildings with other prisoners. But the Allies are advancing, and the home’s precisely functioning organisation is starting to fall apart. The refuge is becoming a trap. The author has written a powerful novel about life in a Lebensborn programme institution, which, under Himmler's patronage, aimed to develop the Aryan race and produce future warriors. With delicate, precise, and sensitive language, she tells stories whose protagonists managed to remain human despite the dehumanised machinery.