Over 15 million times, children in West and East Germany were sent away to “health resorts.” For many of them, these were traumatic weeks, yet they hardly ever talked about them. This book tells the little-known story of the German Verschickungskinder – children who were sent away.
When journalist Lena Gilhaus discovered by chance that her father was sent away to a “health resort” as a child, she began to do research. Her first report on children’s “health resorts” triggered an avalanche, as people from all over came forward to talk about their own experiences.
Continuing to follow these traces, Lena Gilhaus discovered a suppressed chapter of German post-war history. Millions of children from West and East Germany spent part of their childhood in homes, on the North Sea and Baltic Sea, in the mountains and even abroad – sent there allegedly to regain their strength and health, but often experiencing this time as a nightmare.
What are the historical roots of this trend of sending children away? Did Nazism leave an imprint? Gilhaus tells the suppressed history of the children’s “health resorts” based on unpublished documents and many firsthand accounts.
