There are not many greater testaments to the human spirit than the story that is unfolded in ‘‘Born in a Concentration Camp,’’ a film by Eva Gruberova and Martina Gawaz.
Recounting the almost unbelievable tale of seven infants who were born in 1945 in the Dachau, Germany, concentration camp, it is a film that will touch your heart.
Knowing that being identified as a pregnant woman was a direct ticket to the crematorium, these women not only managed to conceal their pregnancies, but somehow sustained enough nutrition to bring their pregnancies to, or very near to, full term. Miraculously, some of the women even escaped detection and ‘‘selection’’ for death by the infamous Dr. Josef Mengele in Auschwitz before being transferred to Dachau.
How did the babies survive?
The film documents the utter surprise of the U.S. Army when, months later, Dachau was finally liberated. To their absolute wonderment, U.S. Army GI’s discovered among the 30,000 survivors of the camp seven mothers and their seven infants ranging in age from one to six months (three boys and four girls). Not only did the infants survive, they were were thriving with few, if any, noticable medical problems.
It’s hard to fathom just how tough it must have been for the mothers throughout those pregnancies. In the worst conditions imaginable, and under extreme duress their love and grit gave new life. That in itself is truly amazing, but to sustain in, under such a regime, was another trial altogether.
The power of breastfeeding
How they did it? Simple, they breastfed, and those that could helped those that couldn’t. Two of those incredible mothers acted as wet nurses to supplement those mothers whose milk supply was low. Truly amazing.
The president of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine wrote about the documentary earlier this year. In his post on the organisation’s blog he highlighted the way that the behaviour of those concentration camp mothers follows the guidelines that still exist today for helping infants survive when disaster strikes. He points out that, ‘‘Babies fed anything other than breast milk are particularly vulnerable in emergencies,” and that, ‘‘The way to help babies survive in an emergency is to help their mothers continue breastfeeding.’’
Not only did all the infants survive, after liberation they grew normally, ultimately married, and raised their own families. All due to the power of breastmilk and the generosity of the mothers who supported one another.
Find more related reading on Kidspot:
- Eight controversial breastfeeding images
- There’s nothing new about breastfeeding photos
- Benefits of breastfeeding
Find more related reading:
- President’s Corner – Breastfeeding Mitigates a Disaster from Breastfeeding Medicine
- 8 Amazing Newborns Who Survived the Impossible from oddee
- Breastfeeding as a survival mechanism when natural disaster strikes from examiner.com
Would you breastfeed another woman’s baby in a survival situation?