Kilian Kerner unveiled the 'DDR. The Stolen Children' collection at Berlin Fashion Week to address the historical injustices of stolen children in East Germany. The collection reveals the failure of institutional responsibility, evidenced by approximately 10,000 forced adoptions and claims of 15,000 supposed infant deaths since the late 1950s. Only a few cases have been resolved, highlighting ongoing neglect and lack of investigation. Parents faced severe emotional trauma, being told their children had died and often never allowed to see them, with some graves found to contain no remains of children.
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.
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.
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.
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