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Questions of identity in German occupation children born after World War II: approaching a complex phenomenon with mixed-method analyses
Abstract
Identity issues are a widely reported phenomenon amongst children born of war. In this
chapter, we discuss the term identity and the importance of a feeling of belonging for identity development by presenting preliminary findings from life story interviews.
... There were no advocates for their needs and rights and no cohesion and solidarity amongst occupation children even if in some cases they were known to each other or suspected others to be just like them. In GOC life stories, we also found a high prevalence of them being sexually abused as children (Mitreuter, 2021). It seems as if the isolation and a consequential vulnerability of GOC was recognized and exploited by the perpetrators. ...
... Of particular interest seem to be similarities in personality, appearance, and talents (Mitreuter et al., 2019). A preliminary analysis of life story interviews (Mitreuter, 2021) found how closely linked finding their fathers is to achieving a sense of an integrated identity and a positive life resolution for many GOC. Interestingly, it often seemed to be more relevant to simply know about the father, who he was and where or whether he still lived than being in actual contact with him (Mitreuter et al., 2019). ...
Objective
Children Born of War (CBOW) are an international and timeless phenomenon that exists in every country involved in war or armed conflict. Nevertheless, little is known on a systematic level about those children, who are typically fathered by a foreign or enemy soldier and born to a local mother. In particular, the identity issues that CBOW often report have remained largely uninvestigated. In the current qualitative study we began filling this gap in the scientific literature by asking how CBOW construct their identity in self-descriptions.
Method
We utilized thematic content analysis of N = 122 German CBOWs' answers to an open-ended questionnaire item asking how they see themselves and their identity in the context of being a CBOW.
Results
We identified five key themes in CBOW' identity accounts. Loneliness and lack of belonging appeared as a paramount aspect of their self-descriptions next to narratives about belonging and positive relationship. On a less interpersonal basis, we found fighting and surviving and searching for truth and completion overarching aspects of their identities. There were also few accounts growing up unaffected by the fact of being born a CBOW. Although all themes portray different perspectives, they all (but the last one) clearly indicate the impeded circumstances under which CBOW had to grow up.
Conclusions
Integrating our findings with existing interdisciplinary literature regarding identity, we discuss implications for future research and clinical and political practice.
... While millions of women continue to experience sexual violence in conflict zones and suffer from its consequences (Porter 2018;Taylor 2022), and thousands of children continue to be born as a result, it is important to note that the very existence of CBOWR and CBOW defies not only myths of ethnically homogenous nationhood but also the destructive nature of wars that fractures communities and sows animosity. Saskia Mitreuter sees in CBOW not a challenge for societies but a chance towards peace building internationally as they can help to bridge differences (Mitreuter 2021). In his speech at the UN, Muhić broadcast a similar message on behalf of Bosnian CBOWR stating, "I don't hate anyone. ...
Drawing from two published literary narratives, the German wartime diary by Anonymous, A Woman in Berlin, and the novel based on women’s testimonies of war rape and unwanted pregnancies in Bosnia by Slavenka Drakulić, S.: A Novel About the Balkans, in addition to published testimonies and unpublished interview data by now young adult (in the case of Bosnia) and elderly (in the case of Germany) children born of war rape (CBOWR), this article examines the intergenerational impact of wartime sexual violence. Applying feminist narrative analysis, the authors demonstrate the situation of “impossible motherhood” and experiences of children who were not supposed to be born. The article focuses on the narrative process marked by trauma but also by agency and resilience so as to challenge dominant stories of war and unwanted pregnancy following rape in armed conflict. The authors propose a resolution of tensions around the ethnic identity of CBOWR along their maternal lineage rather than the imposition of the paternal heritage of the enemy.
... 2022; Malanda, 2016Malanda, , 2021Rohrbach and Wahl, 2019;Bauer and Rohrbach, 2021) and French soldiers from the Maghreb (Lechhab, 2007(Lechhab, , 2009) were more discriminated against and marginalized than white children, due to racial prejudice. On the basis of psychological findings, especially in relation to occupation children in Germany, challenging living conditions in childhood represented risk factors also for mental and physical health in adulthood (Kaiser et al., 2015a,b;Mitreuter, 2022). For example, psychologists found that occupation children in Germany had a more insecure attachment style in adulthood than the general population . ...
... In general, children of Black GIs (Bauer, 2001;Fehrenbach, 2001Fehrenbach, , 2005Lemke Muniz de Faria, 2002, 2003 2022; Malanda, 2016Malanda, , 2021Rohrbach and Wahl, 2019;Bauer and Rohrbach, 2021) and French soldiers from the Maghreb (Lechhab, 2007(Lechhab, , 2009) were more discriminated against and marginalized than white children, due to racial prejudice. On the basis of psychological findings, especially in relation to occupation children in Germany, challenging living conditions in childhood represented risk factors also for mental and physical health in adulthood (Kaiser et al., 2015a,b;Glaesmer et al., 2017;Mitreuter et al., 2019;Mitreuter, 2022). For example, psychologists found that occupation children in Germany had a more insecure attachment style in adulthood than the general population . ...
Thousands of so-called occupation children were born to Allied soldiers and Austrian women in sexual relations after the end of the Second World War. Their experiences correspond to the experiences of occupation children in Germany and, more general, to the experiences of Children Born of War, i.e., children born after sexual contact between local women and foreign/enemy soldiers in conflict and post-conflict situations, regardless of the time of birth and the geopolitical context. Now, more than 75 years after the end of the war, we have studied the changes in the social and political handling of occupation children in Austria over the past decades, using official sources such as newspaper reports, and including biographical interviews conducted with British occupation children in the 2010s. Three phases were identified into which the handling of occupation children can be divided: The post-war years, in which these children were perceived as an (economic) burden; the phase of occupation children growing up and becoming adults, in which they were hardly addressed in public; and the period since the 1990s, in which they have experienced increased media, family, and public interest, which can be attributed to their efforts to make their life stories heard, to the academic research into their living and socialization conditions, and to the formation of networks. The study complements other research on occupation children in Germany and Austria, highlighting the significant differences in the discourse on U.S. American, British, Soviet, and French occupation children , especially between white and Black occupation children , and addressing the differences in Austria compared to Germany. The article argues that challenges and opportunities in the integration of these children have been tied to changes in social values and morals as well as to collective processes of coming to terms with the war and post-war period.
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