Cradles of the Reich
In the burgeoning genre of Nazi-era historical novels, Jennifer Coburn’s Cradles of the Reich follows three German women caught in Heinrich Himmler’s Lebensborn breeding program, which produced 20,000 “racially pure” children between 1935 and 1945. Thirty maternity houses cared for unmarried pregnant women whose babies were taken by Nazi couples. Meanwhile, particularly attractive young women were bred to high-ranking officials. Fans of The Handmaid’s Tale will recognize similarities to a totalitarian patriarchy.
Coburn follows three women in the Lebensborn web. Gundi, a poster child of the Aryan beauty ideal, is a prize for the recruiter, who doesn’t know the father is a Jewish resistance fighter. True believer Hilde schemes to be the baby-mama and pampered mistress of a Nazi high official. Irma, an older nurse, laments youthful choices and needs a new life. Far from the war, women in the gilded cage of Heim Hochland house are unaware of the ongoing Holocaust, massive sterilization programs, and kidnapping of an estimated 200,000 “racially pure” children from occupied countries.
While Cradles of the Reich carefully unveils a lesser-known feature of the Nazi master plan, readers may find some issues. German words and references to Nazi programs aren’t glossed. For an intelligent woman and resistance fighter, Gundi barely grapples with the mortal threat of carrying a Jewish baby. She’s only saved by the revelation of a fully formed escape network and last-minute conversion of a Nazi sympathizer. Hilde is consistently unlikeable, and Irma’s character is less developed.
Despite these issues, this is a resonant, timely read, vividly revealing how a brutally racist, nationalist agenda deprived vulnerable women of their human rights and reproductive autonomy.
