The legacy of forced adoptions

The legacy of forced adoptions
German families torn apart by forced adoptions during the cold war are still looking for answers – and their lost relatives

Marten Rolff
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 22 August 2010 20.30 BST
Article history

Katrin Behr was separated from her mother as a child. Photograph: Christian Jungeblodt for the Guardian
It took exactly four minutes to steal Andreas Laake's baby son – that was the length of the court hearing that swept away his paternity rights. Some 26 years later Laake can still recall every detail of the trial: his aching wrists cuffed behind his back; the musty smell of the courtroom; the steely voice of the young female judge. Then there were the vague words of the social worker who said that after his attempted escape from the German Democratic Republic: "we do not believe Mr Laake has the ability to bring up his son for the purpose of socialism".
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/22/germany-cold-war-forced-adoptions