The Nazi ideology covering the right to live was inhumane. Children born to female prisoners in camps or to forced laborers in factories were denied the right to live. These children were meant to die, and conditions were such that ultimately led to this tragic fate. The parents had no means to save the lives of their children.
The municipality of Pürten was responsible for the maternity facility of the Kraiburg factory. The registry office records 52 births and 29 deaths of children of French, Polish, Russian, and Ukrainian mothers in the period from 1942 to 1945.
At the Pürten parish cemetery
Pürten’s parish priest, Fr. Johann Gasse, was able to baptize 13 children of forced laborers. In the death registry of the parish, only two burials in the parish cemetery are recorded. The fate of the other babies is unknown.
A quote from a monthly report of the responsible gendarmerie post in Kraiburg reads: “On July 24, 1944, the children of the Eastern European forced laborers assigned at the Kraiburg factory were taken to the children’s care facility in Gendorf. After this placement, several Eastern European forced laborers managed to bring back their children to Kraiburg. The reason was poor treatment. The children were sent back to the Gendorf facility on August 3.”
