Activities
I am Astrid Probst, freelance journalist, working for nationwide magazines in Germany (e.g., the Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin, one of the biggest newspapers in the German-speaking area).
Currently I am researching stories about children born of war.
Though these children exist all over the world - for example from WWII and other wars - there seems to be very little reporting on them, at least in Germany. I really want to report on this topic so that the children born of war receive more attention and support.
I would therefore like to talk to children born of war and hear their story. If you are a child born of war and willing to talk to me, you are welcome to contact me at any time by e-mail or telephone. In a phone call I can also give you more details about the project.
Astrid Probst
Contact:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
or +49-176 96621829
From“War Children” to“IS Children”: Comparative Perspectives on European Children Born of War
International Workshop at Lund University, May 10th-12th, 2023.
9.00–10.30:Stakeholder Round Table: Lessons to learn from each other?
Speakers:
ArneØland,participant researcher as well asco-founderand former president of the Danish warchild association (DKBF)
Henny Granum,former DKBF vice president,international spokeswomen andrepresentative in BORN OF WAR international network; activist for the repatriation of children from Syria
Natascha Rée Mikkelsen,co-founder ofthe NGO‘Repatriate theChildren-Denmark’
Kimberley Anderson,PhD,expert onpsychosocial outcomes ofCRSV onmothers and children
Coffee & Fika 10.30–11.00
11.00–12.30:Closing keynote
Ingvill Constanze Ødegaard,GESIS–Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences
“We know more than we think! What is needed to secure the rights of Children Born of War”
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Gisela Heidenreich, Dokumentar på BR Mediathek14.11.2022
Mein deutsches Familiengeheimnis
(Link)
Unbrauchbare Väter. Dr. Dorothee Schmitz-Köster. Oktober 2022 Verlag Wallstein, Göttingen.(Link)
Are you interested in taking part in a research project on children born in times of war? (Link)
What Does It Mean to Be a Child Born of War?
Wednesday, 01 June 2022 09:30-12:30 i Oslo
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New generations continuing to work for CBOW rights
Oslo 7th. March 2022 Read more about the project. (Link)
Post navigation
The Children Born of War Project is founded on the belief that awareness and empathy is the best antidote for prejudice and that we through insight and information can help these children to be seen and protected for what they are – innocent children. (Link)
2021
EuroWARCHILD
EuroWARCHILD aims to study explore the experiences and needs of three generations of children born of war in Europe: children fathered by enemy soldiers during World War II, children conceived through conflict-related sexual violence during the Bosnian war, and children born of European foreign fighters to ISIS/Daesh. (Link)
New Important book about Children born of war. (Link)
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Die vergessenen Kinder von Bosnien. Video. Link
Inger Skjelsbæk, Professor at the University of Oslo and PRIO, has been granted a prestigious European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant to conduct research on ‘Innocent Children or Security Threats? European Children Born of War’ – also known as the EuroWARCHILD PROJECT. (Link)
2020
Forum der Krigskinder in October has been canceled due to Covid-19
The Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Consequences of War is looking for testimonies who can provide information on the history of “Heim Wienerwald” in Austria between 1938 and 1945 or people who were born at this maternity home. The institute is also interested in photography, objects and documents that are connected to the history of “Heim Wienerwald”. For further information, please contact Lukas Schretter by phone (+43 (0) 316 380 8272) or via e-mail ( This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ). (Link)
2019
Der unbekannte Bruder
"Forum der Kriegskinder" in Grünheide
Der Artikel Lesen (Link)
Paneldiscussion after the premiere of the film "Wars Don't End"
From left: Professor Ingvill Mochmann GESIS (Germany).
Kim Gabrielli, UNICEF (Norway),
Gerd Fleischer (Norwegen) Leaer of SEIF.
Dheeraj Akolkar (Großbritannien) – Scriopt and Direction »Wars Don’t End«.
Henny Granum, Spokeswoman, BORN OF WAR international network.
Knut Papendorf, Professor emeritus, Oslo University.
Felleshus, The Nordic Embassies, Berlin 27.06.2019.The event was organised by Born of War international network (BOW i.n.) under the leadership of Thorleif Blatt.
Film Screening and Panel Discussion
Thursday 27 th June 2019 at 2.00 pm
Felleshus, The Nordic Embassies, Rauchstrasse 1, 10787 Berlin
See the program (Link)
Birmingham 2019
„Exploring the Borderlands"
Gisela Heidenreich, Bericht über die Konferenz in Birmingham (Link)
"Wars don't end" a film by Dheeraj Akolkar.
War is hell, but for the children of the occupier and the occupied, hell truly begins when peace comes - and it lasts a lifetime. (Link)
Born of War - Vom Krieg geboren
2018
Eichborndamm 179, Berlin
— UN Secretary-General, António Guterres
UN, New York: International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict (19th June 2018)
Alen is a child born out of war rape in Bosnia, and a president of the Assembly of the Association "Forgotten Children of War" from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Alen Muhic's speak at the United Nations (Link)
Artikel von Siegfreid Matlok in der Zeitung "Der Nordschleswiger" :
"Annerkennung und Unterstützung".
Verein Dänischer Kriegskinder besucht Botschafter Andreas Meitzner, Kopenhagen 30. Mai 2018. (Link)
Mit freundlicher Genehmigung von Thoralf Cleven Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland.Der Artikel erschien erstmalig am 28. April 2018 in etlichen Tageszeitungen, eine Auswahl unterhalb des Artikels. (Link)
2017
11. Kriegskindertreffen in der Deutschen Dienststelle (WASt)
Auf dem Prgramm stand dieses mal unter anderem die
- Vorstellung des Buches "Vom Krieg geboren - Europas verleugnete Kinder" (Hg.) von Gisela Heidenreich, Ch. Links Verlag,
- Vortrag von Henny Granum "Wie ich deutsche Staatsbürgerin wurde"
- Vortrag "Sanktions- und Verfahrenseinstellungspraxis bezüglich der norwegischen sogenannten Deutschenmädchen" von Dr. Knut Papendorf sowie viele Erfahrungsberichte der Teilnehmer/innen.
Buchpräsentation Die Nordische Botschaften, Berlin
Born of War - Vom Krieg geboren 23 th of November (Link)
Eichborndamm 179, Berlin
Born of War - Vom Krieg geboren
13.05 "Russenbalg" Feature
19.30 "Russenbalg" Feature
Distelblüten - Russenkinder in Deutschland
Buch (Link)
Thistleflowers - Russian Children in Germany
”Krigsbørnskaravanen” on tour in Denmark (Link)
War Children Denmark (Danske Krigsbörns Forening) will be representet at Folkemödet at the island Bornholm 2017.
Krigsbörnskaravanen (The War Children project group) will visit Bornhom Friday 16th and Saturday 17th June.
There will by Krigsbörnskaravanen be arranged two panel discussions at the venue Civiltinget:
1. "Taboos and silence", Friday at 4.30 pm - 5.15 pm
2. "Knowing your roots?", Saturday at 4.30 pm - 5.15 pm
Please read about the Folkemödet here: (Link)
2016
Kinder des Zweiten Weltkrieges
Stigmatisierung, Ausgrenzung, Bewältigungsstrategien:Von Elke Kleinau (Hg.), Ingwill Mochmann (Hg.). Campus 2016 (Link)
29.10.2016
Jubiläum in der Deutschen Dienststelle (WASt)
BORN OF WAR international network 10 Jahre Jubiläum (Link)
Eichborndamm 179, Berlin
VIENNA "LOST IN ADMINISTRATION" 18. - 21. May 2016
by Ute Baur-Timmerbrink
In May I was invited to Vienna to give a speech about my experiences with children of the occupying forces in Germany and Austria.
The Austrian historians Philipp Rohrbach and Nico Wahl began the research program "Lost in Administration" in 2012 and, by means of newspaper advertises searched for "Brown Babies" who were willing to provide information about their lives. They subsequently interviewed numerous children with Afro-American fathers, in Austria and America and who were born of relationships which took place during the occupation. Personal letters and photos provided by these children form the basis of the exhibition “BlackAustria – Children of Afro-American occupation soldiers”, which opened at the Folklore Museum Vienna in April and can be visited until mid-August. In connection with the exhibition twenty-one time witnesses were invited to Vienna from 18 – 21 May.
The half-breed children, as they were called, were stigmatize even more in Austria than in Germany, and the Austrian Government was particularly interested in sending these children in their father’s home land America as quickly as possible. Estimated 30.000 children were born of relationships between Allied and Austrian women during the period 1945 - 1956, but the exact number of children of African American fathers cannot be determined due to lack of documents. Historians and curators Philipp Rohrbach and Nico Wahl estimate the number to approximately 300 to 400 children. For their project "Lost in Administration" they were able to access numerous files and welfare documents from Austria. Three witnesses, who had been adopted by Afro-American couples in the late 1950s, came from the USA to the meeting in Vienna. In Europe, at that time, particularly in Germany and Austria, there emerged something like an illegal market for babies and toddlers. This relieved the social funds system in both countries as the fathers of these children could not be called upon to pay maintenance.
The meeting with three witnesses from America was especially touching. All three had memories of Austria, their country of birth and where they spent their early childhood, but they had forgotten the German language. They explained what it was like when they arrived in America, and that for a long time they felt themselves to be strangers in their Afro-American families. At first they could hardly communicate and they suffered from home sicknesses, for despite having been brought up in orphanages. Austria was their perceived homeland and the longing to return remind. These three people know nothing about their Austrian mother nor their American fathers.
In Austria, the "Brown Babies" had not been accepted because of their skin color, and in America they also remained outsiders because of their appearance. Adoption in the US had been spared the other participants, but they still feel reaction because of their skin color today
At the meeting all said that they had never been in contact with other consistently that they have never been in contact with other African-American children of US soldiers. Everyone - even the Americans found a way to cope in life. During the very first hours together the time witnesses exchanged personal experiences, and all definitely wish to continue and cultivate the newly found friendships.
Talking about my work with GItrace I gave advice and support to those who have a few information about their mother and father, however little this is, in the hope that their research will be successful.
Austellung: Volkskunde Museum Wien (Link)
Berlin
Am 8. Mai 2016 erinnern wir mit einem Museumsfest an das historische Ereignis der bedingungslosen Kapitulation, mit der in der Nacht vom 8. auf den 9. Mai 1945 im heutigen Museumsgebäude der Zweite Weltkrieg in Europa beendet wurde. In diesem Jahr knüpfen wir an eine kleine Tradition an und stellen am 8. Mai ein Land und sein Gedenken an das Kriegsende vor. Diesmal ist es das Königreich Dänemark. Wir möchten unseren Besuchern nahe bringen, welche Bedeutung der Zweite Weltkrieg nicht nur für die Sowjetunion/Russische Föderation, sondern auch für Dänemark hat, wie die Länder ihn erlebten und durchlitten und wie heute daran erinnert wird.
PROGRAM: (Link)
Einladung
Dienstag, 19. Januar 2016 um 14u00
Öffentliche Verteidigung zur Erlangung des Grades eines Doktors der Geschichte der philosophischen Fakutät vorgelegt von Gerlinda Swillen :
Verwekt door de Tweede Wereldoorlog
Oorlogskinderen op de as Brussel-Berlijn.
Voorspel – Geboorte – Onthaal.
[Vom Zweiten Weltkrieg gezeugt. Kriegskinder auf der Achse Brüssel-Berlin. Vorspiel – Geburt – Aufnahme]
2015
Dix ans déjà!
Eichborndamm 179, Berlin
Einladung
Internationale Begegnungstagung
Thema: Unsere Väter
Welche Fußabdrücke hinterließen sie in unserem Leben?
Wie gestalten wir verantwortliches gesamteuropäisches Handeln
auf diesem Erfahrungshintergrund? Pracht 18 -20 September (Link)
Deutsche Historische Museum, Berlin
Buchvorstellung, Lesung
Wir Besatzungskinder. Töchter und Söhne alliierter Soldaten erzählen
Ute Baur-Timmerbrink, Autorin, Berlin
Mittwoch, 29. April 2015, 18.00 Uhr
Auditorium Eintritt frei
2014
Eichborndamm 179, Berlin
Vortrag in Aachen von Paul Schmitz
Frauenmuseum in Bonn has from 13th April - 9th November 2014 an exhibition called Single Mums – Alleinerziehende Mütter und ihre Lebenswelt.
The young Danish women Sunny Pedersen and her baby Maria (Maria Kamieth Niebuhr) and Katrine Johannsen-Pedersen with her baby daughter Yrsa (Yrsa Thane Thomsen) are representing the many young women in Europa, who during World War ll had a child with their German boyfriend, who belonged to the Wehrmacht.
Photos and information about the photos are organised by author Ebba D. Drolshagen and Henny Granum, Danish War Children's Association.
See poster (Link) And Süddeutsche Zeitung 12th April 2014 (Link) Read also the story about Yrsa Thane Thomsen, Denmark, Catalog Single Mums. (Link)
2013
18. Historikertreffen - Berlin
28 - 29 Oktober 2013
Kriegskinder Forum
Saturday, 26 October 2013
Deutsche Dienststelle (WASt)
Eichborndamm 179, Berlin
Registration:
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BOW i.n. Meeting 25. October 2013, Berlin
BOW i.n. Meeting - June, Klekken, Norway
Abschied vom deutschen Vater
50 Jahre deutsche Soldatenfriedhöfe in Finnland
14. Juni 2013
2012
17. Hisorikertreffen
29 - 30 Oktober 2012
Kriegskinder Forum
Saturday, 27 October 2012
Deutsche Dienststelle (WASt)
Eichborndamm 179, Berlin
Registration:
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BOW i.n. Meeting - Berlin.
French-German meeting 2012
Programme in German and French
2011
16. Hisorikertreffen in Berlin
Oktober 2011
Kriegskinder Forum in Berlin.
BOW i.n. Meeting - October, Berlin.
Young Cuckoo –
Children of War1940-1945
(Masereelfonds, Anjer, with the co-operation of BOW i.n.)
Who is a War Child?
It is not easy to find a suitable name to children born in a relationship between a native woman and a soldier or collaborator of an enemy army. That they would not have been born but for the war, is what fundamentally differentiates these from other children growing up during the war.
After the second world war it was not only a matter of children conceived by members of the German army in territories occupied by Nazi Germany, but also of children in the occupied Germany.
Nobody talked about these children before 1990. The first research dealt with the mothers and their children in Norway. Not until 2007 has the research in Belgium begun. The very first book about the Belgian children of war was published in September 2009: Koekoekskind – Door de vijand verwekt [1940-1945] (Young Cuckoo – Conceived by the enemy).
The woman writer, Gerlinda Swillen, a child of war herself, uses seventy examples of evidence as starting point. During the interviews she had the opportunity to acquire almost 400 digital photos. Letters from the German soldiers to the Belgian beloved ones are also shown. Anjer and the Masereelfonds exhibit a selection of this collection. The writer and leaders of the Masareefond are curators of the exhibition.
01. April – 10. April 2011
(Weekend 14:00 to 18:00; Monday: closed; Tu-Fr: 13-17 ): Exhibition: Kuckuckskind – Vom Feinde gezeugt [1940-1945]. Fernissage : 1. April 19.00.Introduction by Prof. Dr. Karel Velle, National librarian of the Belgian record office. Admission free.
7. April, 19:30
Literary Soirée (with fragments, letters ... but literary texts too about love during the war, children in war, fugitives, going underground, a town like Gent in wartime ...) Admission: 3 € (members) / 5 € (regular)
10. April, 14:00
Talkby Gerlinda Swillen on the writing of the book, the research and the international dimension ‘Children of War’ with explanation of the shown photos. Admission: 3 € (members) / 5 € (regular).
2010
Kriegskinder Forum in Berlin
BOW i.n. Meeting - October, Berlin.
2009
Network BORN OF WAR (BOW i.n.) was founded in Berlin.
Kriegskinder Forum in Berlin.
