Author Topic: Sprogoe - the danish Roloff home  (Read 3280 times)

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Offline Covergaard

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Sprogoe - the danish Roloff home
« on: December 05, 2007, 05:38:32 PM »
We have a dark spot on in our history.

The home for naughty women located on Sprogoe - an lsland in the Great Belt. Today you pass it when you use the brigde over the Great Belt but between 1923 and 1961 the island was without connection to the mainland and it was used to house women who were either pregnant outside marriage or just young girls trying to escape abuse at home.

The danish Lester Roloff was called Christian Keller and he ran two homes - one for young men and the one on Sprogoe. They were named "the Kelllerske facilities".

We never had a tradition for paddling. A teacher would use his hands to slap a student on the cheek or his ruler to hit the fingers, but this facility had isolation rooms (without music - just quietness.)

Beside the isolation rooms, they used belt and straight jackets to control its patients. Often the girls were sterilized before leaving the facility so they would not get pregnant with the first man they could meet once released.

It was an isolated place but some fishermen found their wife when they landed on the island covered by darkness and removed a girl or two from the island in order to marry them quickly. Regardless of how few teeth the fishermen had, the women often found it being married to an old distasteful man easier than remaining on the island, and followed them willingly.

Picture from a boat

The homes are now history but if we dont know our history we would not learn from it.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »

Offline Oz girl

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Sprogoe - the danish Roloff home
« Reply #1 on: December 16, 2007, 01:48:46 AM »
Australia also had homes for unwed mothers largely run by Catholic nuns. As far as i am aware there was not a history of abuse there in terms of beatings etc but some of the girls were under significant pressure to adopt the baby out.
There were also orphaniges run by various religious organisations that have an extremely dark history. Particularly in regard to indigenous children. Most were not orphans at all but taken from their families because it was felt that they would assimilate better.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bringing_Them_Home
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
n case you\'re worried about what\'s going to become of the younger generation, it\'s going to grow up and start worrying about the younger generation.-Roger Allen

Offline Covergaard

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Do not use this link
« Reply #2 on: December 16, 2007, 04:01:26 PM »
I hope that the pro-program people does not use this link to a spanking machine invented by a danish rev. who had 12 children in need of discipline. It can be seen in a museum.

Spanking machine website

Back to reality: We all have dark chapters in our history, but here in the States we are talking present.

Just think: In Denmark the law is made so, that every single time force are used against children placed by the state a report has to be made to the authorities. Failing doing so can mean that the manager loosed his or her job. Just today a manager of a group home was sent home for failing to send the reports alone.

The laws have to be improved.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »

Offline lorrispickelmire

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Australia and Canada were horrible in the 60's and 70's
« Reply #3 on: December 27, 2007, 02:29:24 AM »
In Canada it was common practice at some hospitals to mutilate a birthmother during the delivery to mark her as a birthmother and a whore.  For survivor stories see http://www.exiledmothers.com/ and to see an exceptionally great video about an exiled mother from Australia, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvO75R-QrqA
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
quot;It will be found an unjust and unwise jealousy to deprive a man of his natural liberty upon the supposition he may abuse it.\"
                                        George Washington