Cradles of the Reich by Jennifer Coburn

Cradles of the Reich

by Jennifer Coburn

Three women, a nation seduced by a madman, and the Nazi breeding program to create a so-called master race

At Heim Hochland, a Nazi breeding home in Bavaria, three women's fates are irrevocably intertwined. Gundi is a pregnant university student from Berlin. An Aryan beauty, she's secretly a member of a resistance group. Hilde, only eighteen, is a true believer in the cause and is thrilled to carry a Nazi official's child. And Irma, a 44-year-old nurse, is desperate to build a new life for herself after personal devastation. All three have everything to lose.

Based on untold historical events, this novel brings us intimately inside the Lebensborn Society maternity homes that actually existed in several countries during World War II, where thousands of "racially fit" babies were bred and taken from their mothers to be raised as part of the new Germany. But it proves that in a dark period of history, the connections women forge can carry us through, even driving us to heroism we didn't know we had within us.

Reviewed by Terri M. LeBlanc on

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What an intriguing bit of hidden history. This book is well-written and offers multiple points of view about the Lebensborn Society. 

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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Reading updates

  • 26 July, 2022: Started reading
  • 31 July, 2022: Finished reading
  • 29 October, 2022: Reviewed