Digital Storytelling

“You are nothing; you can do nothing; you will become nothing.” This is how many former Verdingkinder (Eng.: children for hire) describe the feeling that was conveyed to them in their childhood years. Until the late 1970s, children were “hired out” in Switzerland. The authorities took them away from their parents, for instance when they were too poor to raise children on their own. Poverty was considered an individual failing and represented a danger to the good of the community. It was thought that poor mothers and fathers would have a negative influence on their children. Illegitimate children, and those whose parents had divorced, were affected particularly frequently. These children and teenagers were accommodated in homes, but primarily on farms, where they were to learn to work. However, they were often exploited, beaten and abused. Assaults were seldom followed up, not least because the foster families were poorly monitored by the authorities. Corinna Guthknecht met three Verdingkinder, who tell their story.

View the work: Verdingt und Vergessen (German)