A group of Norwegians who were fathered by German soldiers in World War II are suing the Norwegian authorities at the European Court of Human Rights

Steve Rosenberg:

The former war children claim they suffered widespread abuse and discrimination after the war.

During the war the Nazis encouraged liaisons between German troops and Norwegian women.

It was part of a plan to breed an Aryan master race of blonde-haired, blue-eyed babies for the Thousand-Year Reich.

As for the infants produced by these affairs, most became known as Lebensborn Children. In post-war Norway they became targets of abuse, often bullied, beaten, even locked away in mental institutions just because their fathers had been German soldiers.

Now, 150 war children are seeking justice at the European Court of Human Rights.

They are suing the Norwegian state for having failed to protect them after the war and for discriminating against them.

Norway has, in the past, offered limited compensation to former Lebensborn Children but the authorities have never accepted responsibility for alleged cases of harassment dating back up to 60 years.

The Court will hear the case on Thursday and decide about its admissibility. Later, if it is found admissible, the European Court will then judge the actual complaint on its merits.

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