Nursing home for foreign children, Children's camp site in Velpke, Germany.
The nursing home in Velpke was a temporary barrack made of corrugated iron, lacking electricity, running water, and medical supplies for infant care. The facility provided minimal infrastructure to house around 100 children at its peak.
From May to December 1944, the facility housed around 100 children of forced laborers who worked in the Wolfsburg and Helmstedt regions. The camp was established to care for children whose parents were deported to work in factories and agricultural sites.
The cemetery in Velpke holds graves of 76 Polish and 15 Soviet children who died while the facility operated. This burial ground stands as a memorial to the human cost of forced labor on families working in the region.
Visitors should understand this is a difficult historical site that addresses heavy themes and may be emotionally challenging. The ground is typically open for visits, but it should be approached with care and respect for the children remembered here.
The facility divided children into two separate sections: one for those deemed healthy and another for those approaching death. This segregation reveals the cruel practice of sorting children based on their likelihood of survival.
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