Notes

Outline

Why does it all matter, anyways??? REMEMBER: Your beliefs shape your desires. Your desires dictate your actions. Do you ever act contrary to your desires? Your actions shape the present and future. (remember for eugenics presentation)

What do these pictures have in common?

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EUGENICS

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Definition of Eugenics [Greek] eu- = well [Greek] -genes = born Eugenics – well-born, or the study of ways of improving the physical and mental characteristics of the human race.

History of Eugenics Sparta1,2 1Overman, Christian. Assumptions that affect our lives. Micah Publishing, USA,1996, p.37. 2Overman, Christian. Assumptions that affect our lives. Micah Publishing, USA,1996, p.38.

History of Eugenics Francis Galton (1822-1911) English scientist who was a cousin of Charles Darwin “…was among the first to recognize the implications for mankind of Darwin’s theory of evolution3.” Coined the term “eugenics”

Sir Francis Galton In a letter to Darwin: “The appearance of your Origin of Species formed a real crisis in my life; your book drove away the constraint of my old superstition as if it had been a nightmare and was the first to give me freedom of thought.4” 4 Cowan, R. Sir Francis galton and the study of heredity in the nineteenth century. Garland publishing, New York, USA, p. 74, 1985.

Sir Francis Galton Galton suspected that talent, character, intellect, etc. were all inherited from one’s ancestors, as was any lack of these qualities. Thus the poor were not hapless victims of their circumstances, but were poor because they were biologically inferior. “In his book, Hereditary Genius, Galton proposed that a system of arranged marriages between men of distinction and women of wealth would eventually produce a gifted race.5”

Sir Francis Galton Was Galton Respected by his peers? Huxley Medal from the Anthropological Institute in 1901 Darwin Medal from the Royal Society in 1902 Darwin-Wallace Medal from the Linnaean Society in 1908 Honorary degrees from Cambridge and Oxford Universities Knighted in 1909

The “Evolution” of Eugenics George Hunter, in his book A Civic Biology (1914), divided humanity into five races and ranked them according to how high each had reached on the evolutionary scale, from “…the Ethiopian or negro type…to the highest type of all, the Caucasians, represented by the civilized white inhabitants of Europe and America (261-265).”

This “understanding” of human evolution and eugenics was integral to the creation and development of the NAZI killing machine…

Origin of Nazi Eugenics In the formulation of their racial policies, Hitler’s government relied heavily upon Darwinism, especially the elaborations by Spencer and Haeckel. As a result, a central policy of Hitler’s administration was the development and implementation of policies designed to protect the ‘superior race’. This required at the very least preventing the ‘inferior races’ from mixing with those judged superior, in order to reduce contamination of the latter’s gene pool. The ‘superior race’ belief was based on the theory of group inequality within each species, a major presumption and requirement of Darwin’s original ‘survival of the fittest’ theory.5.1

What was the “superior” race? ‘ … a human type whose appearance had been described by the race theorist Hans F.K. Günther as “blond, tall, long-skulled, with narrow faces, pronounced chins, narrow noses with a high bridge, soft hair, widely spaced pale-coloured eyes, pinky-white skin colour”‘.6.2 5.2 Fest, J.C., The Face of the Third Reich, Pantheon, NY, pp. 99–100, 1970.

Origin of Nazi Eugenics Hitler and the Nazi party claimed that one of their major goals was to apply this accepted ‘science’ to society. And ‘the core idea of Darwinism was not evolution, but selection. Evolution … describes the results of selection’. Hitler stressed that to produce a better society ‘we [the Nazis] must understand, and cooperate with science’.

Eugenics in NAZI Germany “The obsession with purifying the volk, or Aryan race, was so overwhelming that it created an environment in which it was nearly impossible to do ‘good,’ objective science.6”

NAZI Eugenics: “harmless” beginnings Eugenicists were considered experts at solving social problems of poverty, alcoholism, mental illness, criminality and prostitution.7

NAZI Eugenics: “harmless” beginnings Medals were awarded to (more evolved) German women who bore many children. At RIGHT, the Bronze Star for Motherhood. Also awarded were silver and gold (depending on the number of children)

NAZI Eugenics: still ‘harmless’? “On July 14, 1933, the Nazi government passed the law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring, or the Sterilization Law, allowing the forcible sterilization of anyone suffering from genetically determined illness, including feeble-mindedness, schizophrenia, manic depressive insanity, genetic epilepsy, Huntington’s chorea, genetic blindness, deafness, or sever alcoholism.8”

NAZI Eugenics: still ‘harmless’? “This law led to the sterilization of between 350-400,000 people7 and the development of “scarification” for the sterilization of females (of which 1,000 could be done per day with a team of 10 workers).9”

NAZI Eugenics: still ‘harmless’? In an effort to maintain a “pure” race, the Nazis used the United States’ race laws against blacks as a model for their own race laws against Jews.10 “But it is almost incredible, yet true, that the associated sterilization programme involving up to 400,000 persons, the murdering of the insane and the taking of anti-Semitic measures were actually welcomed internationally.11”

Nazi Eugenics: a killing machine During the height of the WWII, Nazi eugenics made up for the quality breeding stock lost (soldiers killed) by destroying the ‘bad’ breeding stock. Eugenicists increased the killing quotas of mentally ill and retarded to make up for those lost during The War.12

Nazi Eugenics: a killing machine “He put on record that he just could not bear the fact that ‘the best, the flower of our youth’ lost their lives at the front ‘in order that feebleminded and irresponsible asocial elements could have a secure existence in the asylums. 13’” “If during the war we ask thousands of young and healthy people to sacrifice their lives for the community, we can ask the sam sacrifice from the incurably ill.13” ~Herman Pfanmuller, central figure in the Nazi killing program

Nazi Eugenics: a killing machine Why did the Nazis kill people who were institutionalized (mentally ill, deaf, blind, handicapped, etc.)?14 As the war progressed, mental wards were used for war-time hospitals. The beds were needed for wounded soldiers. The “less fit” individuals (mentally ill, elderly, etc.) were using resources needed for the war effort.

Nazi Eugenics: a killing machine  The “scientific” idea of strengthening the human race by breeding them selectively, like cattle, lent itself to the murder of over 70,000 mental patients from mental institutions in Germany.15 This killing was good practice for what would take place in the concentration camps. 16

Nazi Eugenics: a killing machine Twenty-six different human experiments were performed with humans from concentration camps in Germany, Poland, and France. Among these experiments were: high-altitude decompression on the human body, the efficacy of gasoline injections as a euthanasia agent, the ability to treat burns caused by incendiary bombs, and the feasibility of bone, muscle, and joint transplants.17

Nazi Eugenics: a killing machine In order to make the discovery that a shot of gasoline to the heart was the most efficient way to kill, Nazi physicians injected benzene, gasoline, hydrogen peroxide, evipan, cyanide, chloroform and air into hundreds of “subjects”, then recorded the results.18

The Third Reich: All said and done… Authenticated and documented during the Nuremberg Trials, 11 million people considered subhuman, unworthy of life, or dissidents, were killed.18.1 Those killed included groups such as: Jews (approx. 6 million), blacks, Gypsies, communists, Christians, and the mentally retarded or mentally ill.18.2

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Nazi Eugenics: was it just the Nazis? In 1941, six years after the Nobel Prize winner Alexis Carrel suggested that criminals and mentally handicapped should be humanely executed, “an article appeared in the Journal of American Psychiatric Association calling for the killing of retarded children, ‘nature’s mistakes.14’”

Eugenics…in America???

Eugenics…in America??? “For instance, in [the early 1900’s], compulsory sterilization for the mentally ill was legal in twenty-five countries. In the United States, the sterilization of the mentally ill had been practiced since 1907.19”

Eugenics…in America??? “I should also mention that it as the US that provided the most important model for German sterilization laws.20” “’In the pre-Nazi period, german eugenicists expressed admiration for American leadership in instituting sterilization programs and communicated with their American colleagues about strategies,’ [Dr. Andre] Sofair and [Dr. Lauris] Kajdjian write.21”

Margaret Sanger: founder of Planned Parenthood 22In implementing a plan called the "Negro Project," that was designed to sterilize Blacks and reduce the number of Black children being born in the south, Sanger wrote:                 "[We propose to] hire three or four colored ministers, preferably with social-service backgrounds, and with engaging personalities. The most successful educational approach to the Negro is through a religious appeal. And we do not want word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population, and the minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members.23”

Margaret Sanger Finally, Margaret Sanger and her organization began to be primary sponsors of abortion rights during her lifetime. But because she had associated herself with Adolph Hitler, praising him for his racial politics of eugenics, she changed the name of American Birth Control League to Planned Parenthood during WWII in order to disguise her racist past.24 24 Gordon, Woman's Body, p. 347.

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Now…share your reaction to one, or both, of the presentations. Don’t forget!!! Introduction Body Conclusion 1 page min., single spaced.