Saksalaisten sotilaiden lapset. Ulkomaalaisten sotilaiden lapset ...

mother's position after the marriage often happened to be difficult, as the child was
often not satisfied with the new arrangements or his or her new stepfather at the
same time as the relationship between mother and child had become more or less
distant over time. In the new family, the mother was also in a difficult position
because it was not always possible to please both the child and the new husband at
the same time. The mother had to simultaneously try to both care for the
illegitimate child, see to raising him or her, and provide a stable environment while
also adjusting to her husband's more or less expressed conditions, principles for
raising children and predilections.
The life stories of children of German soldiers. Many children fathered by German
soldiers continually carried a burden when they were children and adolescents. The
collected material from the questionnaires gives a picture of extensive suffering,
pain, and personal conflict. Still, it is very likely that only those who coped
answered the questionnaire. Those who were already lost, those who had hardly
coped at all, and the indifferent did not respond to requests to participate in the
project. In their responses, many illegitimate children described a great deal of
suffering, self-destructive thoughts and a lack of self-worth. For some children it
became common for them to feel a lack of a sense of security, as well as to be
suspicious of their environment and of other people.
However, the personnel suffering of childhood and youth has provoked in some a
strong desire to cope and find their way, as well as a need to prove themselves to
others. In these cases, it was just these feelings of pain and rejection that created a
powerful drive that later enabled the children to cope and construct a successful life
for themselves when they were adults. Some children were never able to do this.
They were not very successful in life or their lives fell apart at some point. There is
no further information on these cases. It is presumed that the group that had
problems is not small.
Finally, some illegitimate children have wanted to return to their roots and discover
their past. As adults, these children often travelled to Germany in the hope of
recovering from their past. They also sought social acceptance in their father's
home country or at least in German culture; something that they had been left
without in Finland. These illegitimate children drew strength from their German
past, particularly when they retired. They were happy that they had found their
German father at some phase or at least his relatives, however distant. Children
stressing their German identity are likely to romanticize their German roots and
connections. However, this phenomenon is connected with the feelings of being
rejected that they experienced in their childhood and youth. The idealization of
their German identity was an internal mechanism that they used to compensate for
old wrongs and to find new value in themselves. In the last 15 years, the formation
and strengthening of the European Union has considerably aided this personal
recovery, particularly since the reunited Germany has played a key role. As
German society and culture has meanwhile more and more shed the dark heritage
of World War Two Germany, an opportunity has openned up for the Finnish
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