# France24: Édith Pagot's Nazi Past Revealed > French woman discovers she was born in Nazi-run maternity home. - Title: France24: Édith Pagot's Nazi Past Revealed · France24 - Summary: French woman discovers she was born in Nazi-run maternity home. Édith Pagot, adopted as a child, learns she was born in a Nazi Lebensborn home in France in… - Keywords: édith pagot, lebensborn, nazi maternity home, adoption, france, oise department, indersdorf, lamorlaye, german, french, France24 - Source: France24 — https://france24.com/en/france/20261114-i-never-imagined-my-father-was-a-nazi-born-in-a-german-run-baby-factory - Read time: 2 min - Topics: édith pagot, lebensborn, nazi maternity home, adoption, france, oise department, indersdorf, lamorlaye, ss, german, french, news ## Édith Pagot's hidden past Adopted as a child, Édith Pagot had no idea she was born in a Nazi-run Lebensborn maternity home until her daughter began researching her origins. > This photo is of a baby about 18 months old. It has my first name and surname on it ## The 1945 photo Édith holds a black-and-white photo of herself as a baby, taken at the Indersdorf orphanage in Germany in 1945. > I look nice. I look very well-behaved ## Dark history behind photo The photo was taken at the Indersdorf orphanage in Germany in 1945 to find families, but Édith was born in a Lebensborn home in France's Oise department on April 11, 1944. > It was taken at the Indersdorf orphanage in Germany in 1945. They photographed us holding a sign with our first names and surnames on it, to try to find our families ## Lebensborn project The Lebensborn project, created in 1935 by Heinrich Himmler, aimed to produce 'perfect Aryan children' through Nazi maternity facilities. > They were Nazi maternity facilities, and the man behind them was Heinrich Himmler. He wanted a 'pure race' ## No answers for Édith Édith was unaware of her Nazi origins until her daughter started researching, as her adoptive parents only told her she was adopted without further details. > My adoptive parents told me right away that I’d been adopted, but nothing more. I asked several times, but I was never told anything else ## Daughter's research Émilie Ruffra, Édith's daughter, discovered her mother's birth name through a book about her own mother's past and contacted Édith in 2026. > Through Matthieu’s and his mother’s stories, I discovered there were similarities with my own mother’s story. So I contacted him in the spring of 2026, and he was the one who confirmed that Mum had also been born in a Lebensborn home ## Lamorlaye maternity home Édith was born in a manor house in Lamorlaye, France, near Chantilly, in the only Lebensborn home on French soil. > Édith was born in a manor house in the Lamorlaye commune of France, near Chantilly ## Children's conditions At the Lamorlaye facility, mothers were admitted six weeks before their due date and had to stay for six weeks after birth to breastfeed their children. > young women were admitted, at the father’s request, six weeks before the due date and had to remain [at Lamorlaye]for six weeks after the birth to breastfeed their child ## 23 children born Twenty-three children were born at the Lamorlaye facility in France, with no information about Édith's mother except the surname 'de Vicar' and her French nationality. > Twenty-three children were born at the facility in France. Nothing is known about Édith's mother, apart from the surname 'de Vicar' and the fact that she was French ## Journey to Germany As the Allies advanced in 1944, Édith was taken to Germany and arrived at the first Lebensborn home in Steinhöring, Bavaria, in April 1945. > As the Allies advanced and the Germans sensed the tide turning in the summer of 1944, the children at the Lamorlaye manor were taken to Germany ## Indersdorf orphanage Édith was transferred to the Indersdorf refugee center near Munich in August 1945, where the photo was taken. > After the war in Europe ended later that year, she was transferred in August to the refugee centre at Indersdorf, near Munich ## Repatriation to France Édith was repatriated to France in August 1, 1946, arriving in Commercy with 10 other children after a year in Germany. > A year later, on August 5, 1946, she was finally repatriated to France, arriving in Commercy with about 10 other children ## New identity Édith was given a new name, Georgette, and her birthplace was changed to Bar-le-Duc in France after repatriation. > They were also given new first names to erase their origins. Édith was now to be called Georgette. The French state also decided to change their places of birth: all of them were now recorded as having been born in Bar-le-Duc ## Adopted in 1951 Édith was adopted by a childless couple in 1951 and kept her original first name, Édith, causing issues with administrative appointments in France. > They formally adopted her in 1951 and decided to keep her original first name, Édith, a decision, she says, that continues to cause issues with routine administrative appointments in France ## Family connection Édith met Gisèle Niango, who arrived in Commercy in 1946, and they now consider each other sisters after sharing similar life stories. > She’s a year older than me. We’ve had the same life story. It’s extraordinary. She now thinks of me as her sister ## Key takeaway Édith Pagot, adopted as a child, learns she was born in a Nazi Lebensborn home in France in 1944 and was repatriated to France in 1946.