Bundesarchiv, Bild/Wikimedia CommonsA baptism performed under a swastika.Amid all the cruel policies put forward by Nazi Germany, the Lebensborn program is perhaps the least remembered today. It had one mission: to breed a master race of Aryan children.At first, the Lebensborn program pursued its goal by encouraging Germans to have as many children as possible. It offered women especially unmarried women tempted by abortion discreet maternity centers where they could give birth. And it encouraged men to have large families, even if that meant having children outside of their marriages.But at the dawn of World War II, the Lebensborn program took a sinister turn. Because not enough German babies were being born, and because many young German men were dying on the battlefield, the program went in a new direction. Starting in 1939, it began to kidnap foreign children.A Program To Create Racially And Genetically Valuable FamiliesBundesarchiv, Bild/Wikimedia CommonsInside a Lebensborn nursery in Germany.Lebensborn (meaning spring of life) began in 1935, just a few years after the Nazis rise to power in Germany. The Nazis wanted to create a master race of Aryan citizens. But to do so, they needed babies, and the Lebensborn program grew out of concerns about Germanys birthrate. These concerns were twofold. Some two million German soldiers had died during World War I, meaning that there was a dearth of marriage-age men. Meanwhile, Der Spiegel reports that the abortion rate in Germany had risen as high as 800,000 a year. The Nazis wanted Germans to have more children Aryan children which is where Lebensborn came in. The program sought to create racially and genetically valuable families with many children. It encouraged SS men to have large families, and discouraged women from seeking abortions. And it soon began to spread.The Lebensborn Program Spreads Across GermanyTo encourage the birth of Aryan children, Lebensborn clinics were opened across Germany where women 60 percent of whom were unwed mothers could give birth. According to The New York Times, pregnant women would only be accepted to the clinic if they had Aryan features, no genetic disorders, and information about the identity of the father. Bundesarchiv, Bild/Wikimedia CommonsA caretaker dotes on Lebensborn children.Often tucked into into the grounds of private estates, Lebensborn clinics were designed to be comfortable and discreet. They offered pregnant women financial support, prenatal care, a place to give birth to their babies away from prying eyes, and access to adoption services. Meanwhile, Lebensborn also encouraged men to have large families. According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, SS leader Heinrich Himmler who oversaw many details of the program believed that SS men were the countrys biological and racist elite, and so he encouraged them to have as many children as possible. Not only did Himmler encourage SS men to have large families with their wives, but he also urged them to have children outside of marriage.Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone/Getty ImagesGerman women carrying children of the Lebensborn program.Ultimately, between 6,000 and 8,000 children were born through Lebensborn. But to Himmler and the Nazis, these were disappointing numbers. Himmler had estimated that 100,000 biologically valuable German women sought abortions each year, so he expected the number of children produced by Lebensborn to be much higher. At the same time, Himmler began to worry about the loss of racially valuable German men expected to die on the battlefields of World War II.And so the Lebensborn program expanded to kidnapping.How Thousands Of Foreign Children Were Kidnapped And GermanizedAs World War II expanded in scope, so did Lebensborn. According to the Jewish Virtual Library, German soldiers were encouraged to fraternize with foreign women that is, women who met Nazi racial standards. If the women became pregnant, they were invited to Lebensborn clinics to give birth. In Norway alone, some 12,00 Lebensborn babies were born. National Archives of Norway/FlickrThe first Lebensborn clinic in Norway just a few weeks after its opening in September of 1941.But Lebensborn took an even darker turn in 1939, as the Nazis marched across Europe. It began kidnapping foreign children with Aryan features. Some of the children were orphans who the Nazis plucked out of orphanages and brought back to Germany. But others had living families, and they were torn away from their parents by force. From that point on, the children were forcibly Germanized. Often told that they had been given up by their parents, the kidnapped children were indoctrinated into Nazi Germany and then placed into German families. Public DomainThe kidnapping of Polish children. Circa 1942-1943.If they resisted, they were beaten. If they continued to resist, they were sent to concentration camps, where untold numbers perished. Indeed, its unknown how many children were kidnapped from Nazi-occupied countries under the Lebensborn program. The Jewish Virtual Library estimates that some 100,000 children may have been taken from Poland alone. Its possible that more than double than that were taken in total, most of whom never made it back to their families. The Painful Legacy Of The Lebensborn ProgramIn 1945, Nazi Germany was defeated. The Lebensborn program was disbanded, and many of its records were destroyed. But it left behind a painful, lingering legacy. Public DomainA group of Slovenian children who had been kidnapped under Lebensborn.Babies born in the early days of the Lebensborn program, primarily to unwed mothers, often grew up without knowing the true identity of their fathers. Guntram Weber, a creative writing teacher in Berlin, grew up believing that his father was a truck driver for the Luftwaffe who had never fired a weapon, and died when he drove over a landmine. As an adult, he learned that his father was actual an SS major-general who had been convicted of war crimes and sentenced to death but managed to escape to South America. Weber also found out that his godfather had been Heinrich Himmler.Public DomainHeinrich Himmler, one of the architects of the Lebensborn program, died by suicide at the end of World War II.From one day to the next I knew my father was a war criminal, Weber told Der Spiegel. I assume my mother fell in love with a powerful military man. And he obviously couldnt resist any woman. It gave me a feeling of low self-esteem, of loneliness, of uncertainty. Meanwhile, many of the kidnapped children never made it home. Some were sent to concentration camps, where they were killed. Others were so thoroughly Germanized that they wanted to stay with their adopted families. And many no longer had a home to go back to, or didnt remember their family well enough to find them. Today, the Lebensborn program stands as a cruel relic of Nazi Germanys obsession with racial purity. Meant to create life, it instead sowed confusion and pain across generations. Babies born in Lebensborn clinics must grapple with the legacy of their origins today, while many children kidnapped by the Nazis lost their connection to their families forever. After learning about the Nazis Lebensborn program, discover the story of the Battle of Berlin, the Soviet assault on the German capital that brought down Nazi Germany at the end of World War II. Or go inside the remarkable story of the the Ovitz family, the Jewish family that included seven dwarfs which managed to survive the Holocaust.The post Lebensborn: The Nazi Program To Breed A Master Race Of Aryan Children appeared first on All That's Interesting.

Wikimedia CommonsAn illustration of a 19th-century mountain man.At the dawn of the 19th century, John Colter marched into the West and never looked back. He supported the Lewis and Clark Expedition as a hunter and scout, spent years as a trapper and a guide, and developed a reputation as one of the nations first mountain men.Along the way, he became one of the first white men to step foot in Yellowstone, and had a number of near misses with Native Americans. During a famous encounter known as Colters Run, he was forced to run naked from a band of Blackfeet warriors, and narrowly escaped with his life.Though his story is little-known today, John Colter was an important figure in the American West, a mountain man who embodied the regions rugged individualism and survived thanks to his skill as a trapper, hunter, and guide. John Colter And The Lewis And Clark ExpeditionLittle is known about John Colters childhood. He was born around 1775 in Virginia, but didnt enter the historical record until 1803. Then, Colter joined Meriwether Lewis and William Clark in their expedition to explore the American West. They were looking for good hunters, stout, healthy, unmarried men, accustomed to the woods and capable of bearing bodily fatigue in a pretty considerable degree, and Colter fit the bill. He officially joined the Lewis and Clark Expedition on Oct. 15, 1803. The expedition, commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson, sought to explore territory that the United States had acquired from the Louisiana Purchase. The deal had effectively doubled the size of the country, and Lewis and Clark were tasked with finding out what exactly the U.S. had just bought.Wikimedia CommonsNative American guide Sacagawea directs Meriwether Lewis and William Clark during their journey.Initially, Colter made a bad impression. As Discover Lewis and Clark notes, he got in trouble for getting drunk with other expedition members at Camp Dubois in Illinois and he may have even threatened to shoot another man.But Colter quickly proved his worth. His ability as a navigator, scout, and hunter proved invaluable to the expedition, and the National Park Service notes that Colter was mentioned more than 200 times in the Lewis and Clark journals because of his hunting abilities. Colter was also adept at making connections with Native Americans who the expedition encountered.As the expedition made its way back toward civilization, however, a chance encounter convinced John Colter to stay in the West. He and the party met a pair of fur trappers named Forrest Hancock and Joseph Dickson, and in the summer of 1806, Colter decided to follow them toward Yellowstone.Public DomainA map of the Lewis and Clark expedition.Lewis and Clark allowed him to leave the expedition early, writing that they wished Colter every Suckcess.Exploring The West With A Group Of Fur TrappersIn August 1806, John Colter set out with Hancock and Dickson. Their partnership was ultimately short-lived by the spring of 1807, Colter was paddling along the Missouri River alone. He soon crossed paths with Manuel Lisa, a fur trader who had created the Missouri Fur Company. Colter guided Lisa and his men into present-day Montana, and Lisa and the others constructed Fort Raymond near the mouth of the Bighorn River. This was among the first trading posts in the region, and Lisa sent Colter and several others to alert Native Americans. Traveling light, Colter wandered hundreds of miles. He is believed to be the first white man to cross the region that became Yellowstone National Park, and Colters report of the steaming mineral springs he encountered led his fellow trappers to dub it Colters Hell. Jeff the quiet/Wikimedia CommonsColters Hell today.However, John Colter is perhaps best known for an encounter he had with Blackfeet warriors in 1809, known today as Colters Run.The Harrowing Story Of Colters RunBy that year, Colter had teamed up with John Potts, a comrade from the Lewis and Clark expedition. They were working along the Missouri River, trapping beavers, when one day they were confronted by Blackfeet warriors.Public DomainA depiction of a Blackfeet warrior.[T]hey suddenly heard a great noise, resembling the trampling of animals; but they could not ascertain the fact, as the high perpendicular banks on each side of the river impeded their view. Colter immediately pronounced it to be occasioned by Indians, and advised an instant retreat; but was accused of cowardice by Potts, who insisted that the noise was caused by buffaloes, and they proceeded on, John Bradbury, a British naturalist who heard the story from Colter in 1811, later recounted. But Colter was right sure enough, a group of Blackfeet warriors soon appeared. Colter steered their canoe to shore and got out, but Potts pushed the canoe away from the shore and was shot with an arrow. He responded by killing one of the Native Americans with his rifle and was immediately shot with arrows. According to Colter, he was made a riddle of. The Blackfeet then stripped Colter of his clothes. Thanks to his travels, he understood some basics of the Blackfeet language, so he listened as the Blackfeet argued about what to do with him. At first, someone suggested tying him up and using him as target practice. But one of the elder warriors had a better idea. They would hunt him. Colter was then told to run. With hundreds of warriors in pursuit, John Colter raced across the prairie. He was fast, but he knew he couldnt keep up the pace for ever. Once he had gained ground to a considerable distance he looked behind him and saw that just one warrior remained. So Colter suddenly stopped and turned around. As Bradbury later wrote:Denver Public Library Western History CollectionsA depiction of Colters Run. The Indian, surprised by the suddenness of the action, and perhaps at the bloody appearance of Colter, also attempted to stop; but exhausted with running, he fell whilst endeavouring to throw his spear, which stuck in the ground, and broke in his hand. Colter instantly snatched up the pointed part, with which he pinned him to the earth, and then continued his flight.John Colter had survived, but barely. He walked 200 miles back to Fort Raymond a grueling journey which took a week and a half and arrived on the brink of death. John Colter Becomes A LegendJohn Colter stayed in the West a bit longer following Colters Run. But after several of his companions were killed by the Blackfeet, he decided to returned to civilization. In the spring of 1810, he arrived in St. Louis. Paul Hermans/Wikimedia CommonsA memorial to John Colter in Cody, Wyoming.Though he had spent seven years in rugged American frontier, routinely escaping danger and death, Colter seemed at peace to those who knew him. One man remarked that Colter wore an open, ingenious, and pleasing countenance of the Daniel Boone stamp. Nature had formed him, like Boone, for hardy endurance of fatigue, privation, and perils.However, John Colter wouldnt live in civilization for long. After getting married around 1811, he enlisted to fight in the War of 1812, then died of jaundice (either in May 1812 or November 1813). His story is little-known today, but John Colter remains one of the legendary figures of the early American West. Because of his rugged individualism, ability to survive deep in nature, and his many adventures, hes also considered one of the nations first mountain men. Its a fitting description for someone who seemed happiest in the wild, and who spent many of his days wandering the unfurling American frontier. After reading about the many adventures of John Colter, one of the nations first mountain men, look through these astounding survival stories from around the world. Or, learn the true story of Grizzly Adams, the California mountain man who trained grizzly bears.The post The Incredible Adventures Of John Colter, The Mountain Man Who Explored The American West appeared first on All That's Interesting.

Good things come to those who wait. Perhaps that's why Culver's fans have sometimes had to go entire years without seeing this award-winning burger on the menu.

If you've set up a Blink camera or home network recently, you may have noticed an LED indicator light on the product - blinking red. Here's what it means.

Buying a 3D printer opens up a ton of options for making solutions to problems around your house, but is it really more cost effective than buying items?

Outlawed but Unstoppable: How Elizabethan Players Built the Renaissance Stage Skip to content ← Back to the front page In 1572, London's aldermen tried to stamp out wandering players by classifying them...

30 Birthday Bible Verses - Top Scriptures to Celebrate and Share Birthday Bible Verses to Share in Celebration! Birthdays are a beautiful reminder of the gift of life and God's abundant blessings! What better way to celebrate this special day than with uplifting Bible verses that speak to the joy, purpose, and love God has for each of us? These verses can add extra meaning to any...

Historical Events1304 - Wars of Scottish Independence: Fall of Stirling Castle - King Edward I of England takes the last rebel stronghold of the war1925 - Treaty of Nettuno between Italy and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (later Yugoslavia) is signed but is only ratified in 19281942 - Legion of Merit Medal authorized by US congress1948 - Lou Thesz beats Bill Longson, to become NWA wrestling champion2015 - Hacker group Impact Team announces they have hacked the married dating site Ashley MadisonMore Historical Events Famous Birthdays1803 - Jakob Zeugheer, Swiss composer, born in Zrich, Switzerland (d. 1865)1933 - Jos Vicente Asuar, Chilean electronic music composer, born in Santiago, Chile (d. 2017)1934 - M. Stanton Evans, American cultural commentator, chairman of the American Conservative Union (1971-77) and writer (The Sharon Statement), born in Kingsville, Texas (d. 2015)1945 - Jake Scott, American College Football Hall of Fame safety (Uni of Georgia; 5Pro Bowl; 2First-team All-Pro; Super Bowl 1972 [MVP], 73; Miami Dolphins), born in Greenwood, South Carolina (d. 2020)1973 - Haakon Magnus, Crown Prince of Norway, born in Oslo, NorwayMore Famous Birthdays Famous Deaths1156 - Toba, 74th Emperor of Japan (1107-23), dies at 531927 - Ferdinand I [Meinrad], King of Romania (1914-27), dies of cancer at 612005 - James Doohan, Canadian actor (Star Trek), dies from Pulmonary fibrosis at 852007 - Bill Flemming, American journalist and sportscaster (ABC's Wide World of Sports), dies at 802019 - Sheila Dikshit (ne Kapoor), Punjabi politician (Chief Minister of Delhi, 1998-2013), dies of multiple cardiac arrests at 81More Famous Deaths

A Prayer to Know God's Plan Is Not to Harm You - Your Daily Prayer - July 20A Prayer to Know God's Plan Is Not to Harm YouBy Keri EichbergerBible Reading:“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)Listen or Read Below:My eyes reluctantly opened, and the first vision that registered...

Astronomers have solved a decades old puzzle about the Sun's missing silver, not by finding something new, but by modelling something old far more accurately. A revised, more realistic model of the Sun's atmosphere reveals it actually contains 55 per cent more silver than previously calculated, finally matching what meteorites have been telling us all along. It's a quiet reminder that some of the biggest revelations in astronomy come not from new data, but from asking familiar questions with sharper tools.