Photo by Matt Jelonek/Getty Images for Kilian KernerKilian Kerner unveiled his latest collection, “DDR. The Stolen Children,” during Berlin Fashion Week, as part of COLLECTIVEFOUR. This marks the first time Kilian Kerner, alongside fellow designers Danny Reinke and Marcel Ostertag, presented their collections in the expansive Uber Arena, having previously showcased their works in the Uber Eats Music Hall in earlier seasons.
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Words by Marcel Schlutt and Nico Sutor
Photos by Matt Jelonek/Getty Images for Kilian Kerner
The collection brings attention to a profound injustice that tore apart thousands of families—the history of stolen children in the former East Germany, which remains largely unaddressed to this day. Beginning in the late 1950s and peaking dramatically in the 1980s, these events represent a significant failure of institutional responsibility, marked by forced adoptions and alleged infant deaths that have changed countless lives forever.
Around 15,000 cases involving supposed infant deaths and approximately 10,000 forced adoptions are still discussed today. However, only five cases related to infant deaths and about 20 to 40 regarding forced adoptions have been resolved to date.
The so-called “Asocial Paragraph” often emerged in discussions: those who did not conform to the system were deemed unfit to raise children. Even today, there is a notable lack of genuine investigation and support. It feels as though a new wall has been erected around this narrative—one that should have long been overcome.
Parents were denied the chance to see their “deceased” children, often merely informed that they had been “buried.” Few graves exist; some parents even had graves opened, only to find animal bones or clothing that could not belong to an infant or small child. Those who voiced their doubts were labelled as “insane,” with the fate of their children presumed sealed: “Your child is dead.”
“Bring us a case, then we will see,” was frequently the response from authorities. Yet, even after the first officially resolved case, where a supposed deceased child stood alive before its mother 30 years later, there were no subsequent actions taken. The mother had mourned at an empty grave for decades. She, too, was left alone.
Through the fashion show for the collection “DDR. The Stolen Children,” the designer brings this repressed history to the grandest stage Berlin has to offer, the Uber Arena, the largest indoor venue in the city.
