HEINERMANN, Claudia - Wolfskinder / Wolf children

Background information

"The topic was already part of a small photo publication of the Lithuanian Kaunas Gallery: Wolf children are called the war orphans from East Prussia, who wandered in the forests of the Baltic States from 1945 on in search of food and shelter. (© Richard G. SPORLEDER)
"Hundreds of thousands of Germans fled the Red Army from East Prussia and Königsberg at the end of the Second World War. Again and again children were lost on the run or experienced the murder of their own family. Others had to watch helplessly as their siblings starved to death, grandparents died of weakness or the mother succumbed to an epidemic. On their own, these children tried to survive in the forests of the Baltic States. Against hunger, cold and Soviet arbitrariness, they fought for life and death. Some of them found shelter with Lithuanian farmers, who secretly took them in and gave them makeshift care. In return, they had to work in the fields and on the farm. Most of them were denied an education, and most of them can neither read nor write to this day. As a rule, the children were given a new identity and Lithuanian names to conceal their origins. Since the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, the lives of the wolf children have also changed. My book documents in never before shown pictures their way from then until today. (© Publisher's text, 2015 )
When I heard about the fate of the wolf children for the first time in spring 2011, I was deeply touched and at the same time surprised that I had never encountered the subject before. Since then it has never left me. Already at the beginning of my research I met the journalist Sonya Winterberg, who also dealt with the topic and wanted to write a book about it. We decided to search for clues together and to save the life stories of the wolf children from being forgotten in pictures and text. Today there are still about seventy wolf children living in Lithuania, most of them are very old. To date we have visited 42 of them on our travels, some of them several times and many of them have become dear to our hearts over time. While Sonya Winterberg records the life stories of the wolf children with the help of in-depth interviews as part of her oral history project, I take portraits of the contemporary witnesses, their living conditions, the living environment as well as historical photos and documents. In their memories, nature and the Lithuanian landscape play an important role. In the special way of arranging landscape pictures and documentary photographs, unique panoramas of contemporary history are created.

Content

The large-format photo book 'Wolfskinder' consists of color photographs. On display are portraits of the contemporary witnesses, their living conditions, the living environment as well as historical photos and documents. In addition, Claudia HEINERMANN documented the change of seasons in numerous landscape photographs taken during her travels through Lithuania, as these landscapes play an important role in Lithuania's memories. The special way in which landscape images and documentary photographs are arranged creates unique panoramas of contemporary history. Excerpts from interviews as well as short portraits of the individual wolf children complete the picture. Through the overall view of photographs, interviews and documents, the reader is introduced to the contemporary witnesses personally. The fate of the individuals is presented in detail and gives the viewer the opportunity to dive into the life of the respective person. It is also about their memories of East Prussia, the war and their later life in Lithuania. The project 'Wolfskinder' was brought into book form by the well-known Dutch graphic designer Sybren ('SYB') KUIPER". (slightly adapted text, © Claudia HEINERMANN)

About the photographer, Claudia HEINERMANN

Photobooks by Claudia HEINERMANN