The Eugenics Movement |
Brief History|
Eugenics & 3rd Reich|
Experiments |
Philosophies
Several philosophical underpinnings are important for the understanding
of the rise of the Eugenics Movement. In the then newly developing area of
Psychology, Sir Francis Galton in England became fascinated at patterns of
optimal functioning (genius) running in families. At the time, most of the
idea of inherited traits was speculative: measurements of individual
differences such as hand-strength, height, weight, reaction-time, and so
on , were the subject of exhibitions; one such exhibition appeared in the
World Fair of 19xx. Galton collated great bodies of data tracing
individual differences in prominent families in London as well as
collecting and analyzing histories. His work greatly influenced also the
growing interest of psychological measurement and studies of intelligence
measures.3
In Addition to Natural Selection and the Study of Individual
Differences, a religious philosophy of the time was re-introduced after
laying dormant since the early Christian era. It is believed to stem from
gnostic writings6 The philosophy was called "Root-Race" Theory
and was held by some occultists in Europe at the time, particularly Mme.
Blavatsky and Theosophy.7 Root Race Theory held that there was
originally a 'root-race' which was basically analogous to the Jews. They
believed there was a superior race, descendants of the population of
Atlantis, and that over time, the superior, Master Race of Aryans, those
descendants, would be pre-eminent at first and then virtually populate the
world which would in turn become a utopia. In order for this Master Race
to succeed, the 'root-race' would need to either die out over time or be
eliminated. This was to ensure the pure blood lines of these Atlantean
"paragons." This theory along with nordic mythology of a superior nation
of warriors was incorporated into a network of sinister philosophy which
fueled the concept of Eugenics, or the breeding of the perfect human race.
Other philosophies also contributed to the support of Eugenics, such as
Nietzche's concept of the SuperMan: the ultimate in Human attributes and
optimal functioning: this model became the forefront paradigm for Hitler's
goals in human breeding. (see: Philosophies and
Religious Beliefs of the Nazis) The Third Reich did not announce publicly its more sinister beliefs and
plans as they took over political control of Germany in the early 1930s.
Goebbels, in his conference notes8 noted that "we will of
course not mention Wotan", meaning Woden, the Norse Warrior God. (pg. xxx)
The Nazis, especially the upper echelon such as Hitler, Himmler and
Goebbels were keenly interested in the emerging field of Eugenics. They
were training youth from the cradle in their new philosophies and goals
with a strong emphasis on nordic traits, physique and physical fitness and
procreation: German mothers were encouraged in a variety of ways to have
many children. New icons of perfect aryan children were promoted in the
culture of the time. Early in the Reich, doctors were recruited to the
field of Eugenics: one of Hitler's more prominent doctors published
research in Margaret Sanger's journal on Birth Control in the United
States. By the time research and experimentation in Eugenics hit the
Concentration Camps, it had already been well-developed. Volumes had been
written and compiled on racial features and characteristics and the
measurement thereof. Eugenics figured heavily in the facilitation of
proposed replacement of the Aryan race and culture for others.
The Eugenics Movement in America was more pronounced than many knew.
Two persons figured heavily in the new field: Margaret Sanger, known for
Birth Control, Women's Liberation and the founding of what was to become
Planned Parenthood; and W.Davenport, a reknown Eugenicist and Zoologist.
Davenport, a Harvard educated Scientist who taught at the University of
Chicago, and headed the "Station for Experimental Evolution"1in
New York, believed that biological Statistics could be applied to the
Study of Inheritance. He proposed that certain moral traits were also
subject to inheritance/genetic factors such that one could 'breed' moral
traits into the human race. He was one of a number of scientists, who in
the first part of the century argued heartily against immigration;
redefining bigotry as science, believing that immigrants were largely
genetically inferior. His ideology set the the tone for the emerging
interest in Eugenics in this country.
Equally or even more influential on popular culture was Margaret Sanger
1883-1966. Sanger is known as a crusader for contraceptive rights; but few
know that her concern for contraception was based firmly on concern for
racial control. Her early work in impoverished environments led her to the
belief that 'genetically inferior' persons should have less children, and
that centers for birth control should be 'wisely' placed in neighborhoods
which were impoverished, which also frequently happened to be in minority
settings. Her first major 'research' journal, Birth Control
Review published articles and research by Eugenicists including a
few published by one of Hitler's Eugenicists. 9
Few know of Sanger's concern with racial policies and control, but a
careful perusal of authors and articles in these early journals
demonstrate her concern with human engineering. She was later in life
appointed honorary head of Planned Parenthood, the group which grew out of
her original organization in the 1940s; the journal has continued as a
research arm of Planned parenthood till this day, under a different name.
These and other influences of Eugenics proponents in the United States
were formidable contributing factors in the lobbying for isolationism and
restricted immigration during World War II, hurting mostly Jewish persons
wishing to escape the Shoah.
Why were the Jewish people genetically unacceptable to the Nazis? The
answer lies in the way the Third Reich viewed the Jews. Much of this has
been discussed in other sections.(See
"Judenrein") While many people throughout history have seen and
defined the Jews as both a race and religion, the Nazis went to great
links to define the Jews first as a race, with complex racial definitions
R and secondarily as a religious and political
threat.p The Nazis wanted to rid Europe of the Jews not just
because of their religion and politics, but because they believed that the
Jews were the modern day descendants of the Hebrews, a group they
considered the "root-race". ( See Root
Race Theory A Superior or Master Race would emerge and take over
Europe and then the World when this 'root race' was eradicated, ushering
in a Utopian period populated by a genetically superior people. That
people, according to the belief of the Nazis was the Aryan Race, with
strong Nordic characteristics, white, with blue and light-colored eyes and
light-colored hair, with strong physiques. The upper-most decision makers
believed that by eliminating the Jewish bloodlines of Europe and the other
bloodlines of 'less-desireable' peoples, that within a generation or two,
this perfect Aryan Race would emerge, and usher in the Third Millenium,
the Third Reign, which Hitler would rule. Himmler even believed he was the
re-carnation of Heinrich I, who reigned earlier in history in a similar
matter. The plan to make Europe "Jew-free" Judenfrei or
Judenrein was from the beginning: excuses and apologetics having to
do with 'relocating' the Jews for economic reasons covered the true
motivation of the upper echelon of the Third Reich. The aim was to
annihilate even the remnant of Jewish blood (we would now say DNA) from
the peoples of Europe. the Jews were by far the most criminally treated in the Shoah, but the
Poles were among the peoples seen as "less-desireable" than the Germans.
For the most part, German-Polish marriages were not forbidden or outlowed
as were Jewish liasons, which were seen as racial-defiling. The Poles
however were seen as less intelligent, and less noble a people than the
Germans, in part because of their tolerance for the Jews in Poland. While
many Poles were in league with, or were Nazis, many also saw German
occupation as a very intolerable condition. Polish citizens were among
those relocated and deported to Auschwitz, and a number of Polish children
who were not Jewish were the subject of the bizarre experiments of
Mengele. Polish land once confiscated was seen as the manifest destiny for
the accomplishment of "Lebensraum" or the brancing out of the German
populace into the realm of Europe to reign and command resources.
Even before the Jews were targeted by Hitler as genetically
unacceptable, the developmentally delayed or 'mentally-retarded' citizens
of Germany came under the bitter scrutiny of the Third Reich. Hitler had
no no appreciation of the value of a human life for its own sake: the
mentally unfit were seen as a flaw in the German bloodlines and an
economic/social burden to the state. For this reason, early on, the Reich
sought sterilization and euthanasia procedures in institutions which
housed large numbers of what Hitler considered the 'unfit'. This was often
done without the consent of families of the 'feeble-minded' as they were
often called: parents and families would often receive a notice that their
loved one had died a peaceful death, without explanation. They would often
have to carry the costs of burial. With the mentally ill, the
developmentally delayed were also the subjects of early experiments in
mass murder, as the Nazis sought 'efficient' means of killing large
numbers of persons with minimum problems. One of the first pamplets by
Bishop Galen which the White Rose
group at the University of Munich distributed, had to do with a protest
and cry against the Reich's treatment of the mentally infirm.
10 The mentally-ill, while not slow in intelligence were also seen as
genetically inferior to ideals for Hitler's Master Race. His scientists
believed then as many believe now that "mental-illness' is a genetically
predisposed condition, and that it can be bred in or out of the human
condition. Others disagree vehemently to the nature of what we call
"mental-illness", attributing much of it to social-adaptibility and
developmental factors.11 Most of the deaths of the mentally ill
took place earlier in the 'final solution' and were independent of racial
factors.
Political Prisoners and Prisoners of Conscience are the only category
here which were not really a 'genetic' category: but often their treatment
was the same: they were forbidden procreation in order to breed out if
possible even political/religious predispositions. They were not seen or
handled in the same way the others were handled.
the Roma and Sinti were European groups of peoples, often having roots
in Hungarian and Slovak areas which are popularly called 'gypsies'. They
were considered undesireable and targeted for eradication because of their
perceived qualites of deceptiveness, instability and wanderings. They were
considered of lesser intelligence and some even considered them 'evil'.
Many Roma and Sinti were sent to the Killing Centers for extermination
along with the Jews.
Mixed race marriages early on were seen as unacceptable and outlawed in
Germany. Jews who dated or married aryans wee accused of
'racial-defilement' and were publicly humiliated, as were their mates.
However, when Jewish spouses were arrested and deported and robbed of
citizenship, their spouses most often were not and retained full
citizenship rights.
Again, while not considered a racial group to be expunged, the
'religiously-unacceptable' were often treated in the same manner, and were
also sent to concentration camps and often executed. The most prevalent
were Jehovah's Witnesses, Evangelical Christians, and what the Nazis
called "Political" Catholics and Protestants. These persons were
considered incorrigible because of their firm stands against Nazi policies
and beliefs and because they seldom recanted their positions even under
pressure. Freemasons were also watched carefully, but the Nazis also
incorporated certain of their beliefs in their own. their inclusion here
is not because they were a direct target of the Reich's Eugenics programs,
but becuase their treatment was the same as those who were.
The elderly were often targeted for euthanasia or extermination not
because of bloodlines or defects but becuase of their lack of contribution
in a utilitarian philosophy. Jewish elderly were sent often to Terezin
which the Nazis tried to promote as a 'retirement community', but which in
fact proved to be a disguised gateway to Auschwitz. In Hitler's
progressive views of youth and vitality and a new Germany, the elderly of
all racial backgrounds were denigrated as contributing little to the new
Reich. They were among the first killed when deported to the killing
centers because of their perceived burden.
One would automatically assume that Hitler and the Nazis would see all
non-Aryan people as genetically inferiour, and to a certain extent, this
was true. All non-white, non-european peoples were seen as genetically
inferior to the Nordic peoples. However, the Nazis views towards for
example, the blacks or Indians, was more complex than one might think.
Early in the war, the Nazis courted the Indians for thier anti-British
sentiment: Goebbels encouraged comparisons between Hitler and
Ghandi.12 There were very few persons of African descent in
Europe, but the views of the Nazis on the persons of color were at once
disparaging, and sometimes 'magical': they were seen as having a role in
the move towards the replacement of the root-race with the Master Race.
Sexual deviants were seen as genetically and socially unacceptable,
although this was a hypocritical position because it is now known that
many of the upper-level Nazis were sexual deviants. This category included
homosexuals, pedophiles and those with perversions. In Dachau, homosexuals
were forced to wear pink triangles as badges to denote their reason for
incarceration. Many have strongly speculated that Hitler and his cohort may
have had a homosexual relationship, although this may have equally played
in the removal and death of the many who is credited with the fierce
countenance of the "Brown Shirt"s or SA. Often in a 'reaction-formation'
or 'projection' mechanism, those behind the Third Reich at once condemned
social deviants and at the same time participated in the deviancy in a
perverse catharsis.
As mentioned previously, Germany, America and Britain were the three
nations leading in fascination and experimentation with the pseudo-science
of Eugenics in the first half of the 20th Century. While we tend to think
only of Germany in this manner, the Eugenics programs flourished in this
country, reaching even the legislature for avenues of acceptance. Many
Eugenists on both continents believed that society and a nation could rid
itself of human ills by 'breeding-out' genetically based unacceptable
temperaments and behaviors: there was an underlying assumption than much
criminal behavior had a genetic base. In this pre-cloning, pre-DNA era,
the emphasis was on breeding: the principles of animal breeding were
thought to be closely applicable to the breeding of humans as well. German
scientists, in line with views on race began to search for viable means of
establishing "clear" or "pure" Nordic/German/Aryan bloodlines. In addition
to wishing to establish a perfect physical race, their spiritual beliefs
intertwined to produce the concept of a genetically perfect, and
intellectually superior people who would tke the reigns of Europe in the
3rd Reich (or Realm, or Millenium) The funding and focus on developing a science of "Eugenics" or human
engineering increased immediately with the Nazis taking power in 1933.
This was also a function of timing: American interest in Eugenics was at
its apex also; it fit perfectly into early plans of Hitler to create a
Europe free of Jewish citizens. This 'racial cleansing' was decided early.
While some argued for years after the war that Hitler either did not know
about the mass exterminations or that he had no direct decision-making
role, nothing could be further from the truth. Early documents, speeches
and writings of Adolf Hitler show clearly that he formulated plans early
in his involvement in the Nazi party to eradicate the Jewish Race and
begin 'Endlosung or final solution to the "Jewish Problem". For
example:
Hitler did not stop at the idea of eradicating Jews and Judaism from
Europe. Once this "inferior race" was eradicated, a new Aryan race with
Nordic characteristics (see above) would over a generation or two replace
earlier inferior races. A master race concept is not new: the idea or
concept appears in many cultures, and the description of the race usually
fits the archetype of the racial group describing it. Hitler's concepts
however went far deeper. He believed with many of his inner circle that
the race that inhabited the Ancient possibly mythical city/civilization of
Atlantis were a superior group of human beings excelling in every human
attribute, physical and intellectual. This race disappeared with some
cataclysmic event but certain descendants survived. The Nazis believed the
German/nordic people called "aryans" were descendants from this super-race
of people. They also believed that the races evolved from more primitive
races, and a 'root-race' to more and more complex races. When the 'lower'
races were erased, a utopia would evolve. Hitler, Himmler, Goebbels and
others believed that a new Aryan Germany would take leadership in this
era, over a unified Europe and then over a global society. Eugenics was
the science which would aid in this process: people, like animals would be
bred towards this aryan perfection: anomalies would be removed from the
bloodlines. In Hitler's estimation, the Jews fouled the bloodlines and
this purpose: if Jewish children could not be germanized they also would
be killed. (Those few chosen for 'germanization' after their parents were
deported were often those with aryan-looking phenotypes). Experiments in
bring about that perfect bloodline included Lebensborn, the Medical
Experiments of Mengele and others in the Killing centers including "Twin "
Studies, basic research and the implementation of Racial Laws.
Additionally men and women were separated in the Camps to avoid
procreation, in the hopes of erasing Jewish birth rates. Forced abortions
and outlawed Jewish pregnancies were also legislated in some areas. (See Ghettos
Many laws were enacted when Hitler took the reigns of both Chancellor
and President, giving him absolute dictatorial power of enactment and
veto, meaning that no German legislation went into law without his
approval, and that no law he wished enacted would fail. The early laws
began to erase the rights of Jews (1933); The Nuremberg Laws (1935) erased
Jewish Citizenship and access to due process and ownership, and various
Race Laws, developed other concepts among which was 1)outlawing marriage
between Aryans & Jews and 2)Limiting Jewish Procreation. ( See "Jewish Civil Liberties
Timeline".)
Corollary to the promotion of the 'pure-aryan' family; was the push legally and medically to make Germany and then Europe
Jew-free. One of the first measures was social: mixed marriages of Jews and Gentiles were mocked and ridiculed and even
persecuted. By 1935, Jews and Germans were forbidden mixed marriage by law, as they were denied civil rights and access to the
the courts. Mixed couples were often in distress when one was set for deportation and degradation, and one was allowed to stay
as a free citizen in Germany: some even chose deportation and the killing centers over separation from spouses and children: others
sought avenues of hiding family members or aiding escapes.x
In the ghettos, many Judenrats were forced into policies and laws regarding a ban on Jewish offspring and pregnancy. A woman
already pregnant entering the ghetto could have the child, but in some ghettos, if a woman became pregnant, she was required to have
an abortion: if she did not willingly have one, it was forced upon her, so intent were the Nazis on putting an end to the Jewish race.
The camps were the same, only worse: infants born in camps such as Auschwitz were immediately put to death or used in experimentation,
therefore many Jewish midwives would smother or drown newborns and tell the mothers their children had been stillborn. A live baby
meant both mother and child would be destroyed in the gas chambers. Couples were also separated in the camps: partly this was due
to difference in labor divisions, and partly to avoid married couples having children. The aim was clearly a generation that would
see an end to Jewish youth.
How Jewish did one have to be to be included in the Nazi Laws?
This question was greatly in discussion among"Racial Scientists" early
in the Reich. Generally, to be even 1/4 Jewish would suffice to have
one fall under the laws of racial impurity. Marriage to a Jew was discouraged at first
and later outlawed, but the Nazis mistreated but did not deport aryans married
to Jews: it was the 'race' of Jews which was the target of the Final
Solution. The Nazis wanted to erase BLOODLINES, not just the present generation. They wanted to
make sure first, that all Jews were removed from Germany and Europe, then that all Jews were exterminated,
and lastly that there would be no seed to begin again. The Laws declaring German Citizenship, the Nuremberg
Laws, , stated in Article 2, the requirements for citizenship:
and the exact definitions of Racial Purity:
The Nuremberg Laws of 1935 went on to blantantly outlaw German Citizen for Jews, stating they had no
part in the Civil Rights of the Reich.13
Racial Science by the beginning of the Reich had become so engrained in German Society, that
it rapidly gained scientific status. Methods of verifying race like the They were essentially
looking at the 'phenotype', or outward visible manifestations of 'jewishness', before the days of DNA
testing. Many of these tests took place before deportations allowing Nazis to identify
Jewish persons for their planned pogroms.
Husbands and wives, and in most cases all females and males were segregated in the Work Camps and Killing Centers.
More than just a move for convenience, it was so there would be no sexual contact, and hence no births: it was deemed
fruitless by the Nazis to proceed with a 'final solution' to the Jewish Question if they continued having offspring.
When on occasion a child was born in the camps, some midwives killed the child. While this may sound brutal and heartless,
a mother giving birth meant death for both the mother and the child at the hands of the Nazis, so in dire conditions,
some midwives tried to save the mothers, since the children were seen as a resource burden and would most certainly be
killed anyway. Separation of husbands and wives and males and females in the Camps, was one further means of ending
the Jewish race in the Nazi's eyes.
On this foundation, Hitler's earliest experiments in Eugenics and deliberate influencing of 'bloodlines' came under the T-4 program.
The T-4 program, named for its Headquarter address, was founded on the principles of Binder and others who posited that some lives,
could be classifed as "Lebensunwerte Leben" or Life Unworthy of Life. This term meant to Binder that the state need have no
conscience in terminating lives which did not reach a certain criteria of value or consciousness, redefining those lives as subhuman
and not for equal consideration, detrimental to both society and to the 'cost-effectiveness' of the economy. Binder had recommended
that a State Review panel of at least three persons be appointed to determine the degree of 'unworthiness' of the life at hand, but
by the time Conti and Brandt put the T4 program into practice, the criteria had degenerated to a single doctor assessment, and then
to a single physician 'caretaker' assessment in which , for example, the head of a State home for 'mental deficients' could make the
decision for all those in the institution. By the end of the program, through starvation, lethal injection and other means, close ot
75,000 deaths were accounted for in this manner with many more continuing after public outcry stop the practice, at least officially.
The men trained in the T-4 experiments became the central figures in Operation Reinhard, developing from experience, excellent
deceptions to keep victims calm until extermination, and methods of extermination which would kill the most in the shortest time,
with the least 'demoralization' to the killers.
Many of the Concentration or 'Killing Center' experiments were begun partly as funded investigations of Racial Science, and partly
as a larger body of Medical Experiments in general. Scientific research was given a wide berth and paranormal phenomena, racial and
racial-determinant research, rare language and culture research as it applied to Race were funded along with traditional sciences which
grew to focus on rocketry and technology for the war effort. The vast number of those in forced labor, also allowed for
ease in selection 'subjects' [victims] for medical research, without screenings or consent. Experimentation included submerging victims
in frigid waters to study hypothermia in pilots down over waterways, disease and bacilli transmission, studies of skeletal structures
and preparation of skeletons of certain types for University research [see Nazweiler near Strasbourg]
the study of wounds in which victims would be inflicted with wounds to study their course and treatment, and Eugenics studies, such
as Mengele at Auschwitz conducted.
Mengele is perhaps the most widely known physician of the Shoah era, known predominately for his cruelty
and horrific experiments, even on children. During and after conducting his doctoral research on cranial size and features across the
races, Mengele continued with his chairperson work on Eugenics, distinguishing features across races, and other studies
involving cruelties not allowed by modern standards. Known for his "Twin Studies" at Auschwitz, which was government funded
research, Mengele and others selected out certain 'kinds' of individuals such as twins, dwarfs, or those with physical abnomalies
for clinical 'investigation'. Medical Experimentation)
1(Picture Credit:USHMM archives) 10 Scholl, Inge. Students Against Tyranny
11The 'nature' vs 'nurture' arguments in psychology and
psychiatry will always proceed: most never come to any synthesis: the most
important issue here is that the consequences of belief is behavior:
because the Reich believed that mental illness was either
disease-process or congenital process, their methods were to eradicated
the defective genetic state: this was before the more extensive knowlege
of DNA and concepts of DNA engineering came about: at that point in
history, the cessation of thosese with the condition and the cessation of
procreation which produced the condition was targeted. Even more than the
retarded, the populations of mental hospitals were targeted for
experimentation in killing methods, most notably on record is a detailed
description the use of truck exhaust pipes routed into a small room with
no ventilation for the purpose of carbon monoxide poisoning of groups of
30 or so. It was determined early in the Shoah, that this means was not
the most efficient, and that the poulation of interest took too long to
die, and that the clean-up was too intense. Also, there was the occasional
misfortune of a survivor who had to be killed, rather than news of the
experiments becoming known. These experiments led to the earlier forms of
killing in which specially-designed truckss were fitted with exhaust pipes
that fed back into tightly sealed back carriage of the truck. Later it was
decided that the numbers required for the extermination of the Jews could
not be accomplished killing only small groups at a time.
12See reference 8: Op Cit.
|Marriage & Race Laws|
Judenrein |
The Aryan Experiment|
I. The Eugenics Movement
Probably one of the most hideous aspects of the Third Reich was their
notorious fascination and experimentation 
with Eugenics. Eugenics may be
defined as "The study of hereditary improvement of the human race by
controlled selective breeding."1 It is a science of applied
Eugenics, negatively characterized by many because it it often used in the
interest of racial "refinement" or in extreme cases, genocide. The general
movement of Eugenics prospered from the late 1800s to the 1950s; there are
still outspoken advocates. While the notions of 'pure-breeding' the human
race has been around since the time of the Greek philosophers, the actual
'science'(or pseudo-science) of Eugenics has taken hold mostly in the last
100 years, as more accepted sciences such as Genetics and studies of
"Individual Differences" and Psychometrics began to appear. Encarta sites
the United States, England and Germany as the foremost nations in which
the Eugenics Movement Developed.
Darwin around the turn of the century influenced
the development not only of the emerging social sciences but also the
emerging concepts in Eugenics. Most have heard of the "survival of the
fittest" or natural selection theories of Darwin, in which he believe
according to evolutionary patterns, over the course of human history, the
most fit individuals and hence traits would survive and prevail over the
weaker, leading in course to a more fit and able person, presumably ending
in a perfected homo sapien. He also developed the concept of the
GAS: General Adaptation Syndrome; in which this evolving perfection would
suit itself progressively to the enviroment and social conditions.
Inherent in his beliefs was the assumption that over time, man and the
world would evolve in every level towards a more perfect state. Eugenics
relied heavily on that process, hoping to hurry it along by genetically
altering and selecting what were deemed more desireable4
traits. What many do not know, is that Darwin recanted much of what he had
proposed near his death.5
II. The Genetically Unacceptable
III. Nazi Germany and the Eugenics Projects
Marriage and Race Laws
a belief in 'Social Darwinism' as well as the 'natural' kind, the Third Reich went to task
with the German people to propigate the 'superior' German-aryan race whatever way possible. One of the first
ways that Hitler promoted this cause was to give legal and tax benefits to couples marrying and bearing children.
One such act, enacted shortly after he came to office in 1933, was to provide a loan to couples marrying who planned to
bear children. This loan could be paid off at 25% per child, hence, with 4 children, the loan was forgiven. The promotion
of the large German family was for a variety of reasons, including producing an upcoming generation totally raised in
on 'fuhrer principles' and on the vision of the "New Reich". The promotion of the increase in propagation was reflected,
in art, advertisement, media messages, literature and speeches of the hierarchy of the Reich. ARTICLE 2.
(1) A citizen of the Reich may be only one who is of German or kindred blood, and who, through his behavior, shows that he is both desirous and personally fit to serve loyally the German people and the Reich.
(2) The right to citizenship is obtained by the grant of Reich citizenship papers.
An individual of mixed Jewish blood is one who is descended from one
or two grandparents who, racially, were full Jews, insofar that he is not a Jew
according to Section 2 of Article 5. Full-blooded Jewish grandparents are those
who belonged to the Jewish religious community
methods that were developing
in the Psychological fields of Individual differences and personality theory, took hold and German
scientist developed methods of measurements that includedIV. The Eugenics Experiments in the Camps: Souless
Science
V. The Creation of a Master Race
2"The American Heritage® Concise Dictionary," (c) 1994
Houghton Mifflin Company. (c) 1994 INSO Corporation. All rights reserved.
3Corollating closely with Galton, Piaget's work in
Switzerland and France was aligned with the study of individual
differences in Intelligence. He was assigned the task of identifying
mentally-deficient persons in Public schools in order to provide
segregated special education and/or removal. Piaget parted company with
other psychometricians in that he looked for positive and normal
differences instead of genetically inferior 'traits'.
4The very crux of the issue of Eugenics is not in
the realm of Science; Genetics can indeed, apart from ethical
considerations now modify many aspects of human growth and countenance.
What sets Eugenics apart from Science, is the critical issue of
"Desireability". The concepts of which behaviors and traits are socially
desireable in the Eugenics model almost always focused on political and
philosophical concepts, mostly utilitarian, in other words, what is
'useful' to society. Eugenics leaves out a more mature understanding of
human suffering, depth, and all concepts of faith, leaving society and
life as little more than "machines" of adaptation.
rThe racial definitions examined the racial
inclusion not only of a person's parents, but also of their grandparents.
While orthodox Judaism uses definitions of maternal inclusion, the Nazis
used racial criteria. Originally, a person had to be 1/4 Jewish by genetic
definition and later, even broader definitions were used. In addition to
the Reich's fascination with human engineering and genetics, they
developed psuedo-scientific methods and measures based on bigotry and
sterotypes: for example, instruments were developed to measure nose-length
and depth of eye color, believing that "Jewishness" was manifested by
these characteristics. Portrayal of Jews followed these assumptions. (See Anti-Semitism
pThe Jews, the Nazis believed were a degenerate people of
degenerate politics, and were held as synonymous with "Bolsheviks" or
early communists. They reasoned that since Karl Marx and others were
Jewish, that the Jews would bring these hated 'egalitarian' ideas and
poverty and social degeneration into the social environ of Germany.