When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

You've reach your limit of free articles.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime.

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Ad-free experience NEW

Exclusive international news coverage

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Monthly Access

30-day free trial, then $2.90 per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch
blog

When You're Born Into A Nazi Breeding Project

From a documentary on the Lebensborn program
From a documentary on the Lebensborn program

STOCKHOLM — Kari Rosvall was 64 years old when she found out she had been bred as part of a Nazi program, with the purpose of creating a supposed Aryan elite. "I was seen as a product, like a pig bred in an animal factory," she says in an interview with the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter.

Rosvall was adopted by a couple and grew up on a farm in Malexander in southern Sweden. As a young adult, she decided to find out more about her background, and managed to track down her birth mother in Norway. Although she visited several times, her mother refused to reveal anything about her father, or how Rosvall had been brought into the world. Many years later, she found out her dad had been German, and that she had been brought to Germany from an orphanage in Oslo.

Now, in a new memoir, Barnet från Ingentans (The Kid From Nowhere), Rosvall tells the story of her life, and how she found out the truth about her background.

Speaking with the Dagens Nyheteron Thursday, she recounts how some women in Norway, which was occupied by the Nazis during World War II, voluntarily started relations with German officers, while others were systematically raped in order to give birth to children of "pure race." Young Kari was one of thousands of kids who born into the Nazi project known as "Lebensborn" (Fount of Life).

Referring to notorious top Nazi official Heinrich Himmler, she recounts that "Himmler personally visited the Lebensborn clinic where I was born, and picked the strongest of the kids, like dogs in a kennel."

In the autumn of 1944, not even a month old, and dubbed only "number 1/5431," she was shipped to Hohenhorst outside Bremen in northern Germany, and placed in an orphanage with other blond-and-blue-eyed babies to receive the best possible food and care. The "Lebensborn" project continued until the end of the war.

Later, Rosvall tells how she was brought to a Swedish orphanage by the Red Cross, unable to speak, and was nearly sent to a home for the mentally disabled. But in late 1947, she was adopted by her Swedish parents, which Rosvall describes as her first memory, her first encounter with anyone who cared for her.

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Economy

Soft Power Or Sportwashing? What's Driving The Mega Saudi Image Makeover Play

Saudi Arabia suddenly now leads the world in golf, continues to attract top European soccer stars, and invests in culture and entertainment... Its "soft power" strategy is changing the kingdom's image through what critics bash as blatant "sportwashing."

Footballer Karim Benzema, in his Real Madrid kit

Karim Benzema during a football match at Santiago Bernabeu stadium on June 04, 2023, in Madrid, Spain.

Pierre Haski

-Analysis-

PARIS — A major announcement this week caused quite a stir in the world of professional golf. It wouldn't belong in the politics section were it not for the role played by Saudi Arabia. The three competing world circuits have announced their merger, putting an end to the "civil war" in the world of pro golf.

The Chairman of the new entity is Yassir Al-Rumayan, head of the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund. Add to this the fact that one of the major players in the world of golf is Donald Trump – three of the biggest tournaments are held on golf courses he owns – and it's easy to see what's at stake.

In the same week, we learned that two leading French footballers, Karim Benzema and N'Golo Kanté, were to join Saudi club Al-Ittihad, also owned by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund. The amount of the transfer is not known, but it is sure to be substantial. There, they will join other soccer stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo.

Keep reading...Show less

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

You've reach your limit of free articles.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime.

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Ad-free experience NEW

Exclusive international news coverage

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Monthly Access

30-day free trial, then $2.90 per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch

The latest