000823 -0017
Bavarian International School
A: Plan of Investigation
This Internal Assessment will attempt to investigate whether or not the German World War Two era policy of euthanasia was distinctly Nazi, and if so, where the inspiration for the continent wide ethnic cleansing policy may have stemmed from. This topic, while extremely sensitive, is also crucial in understanding the methods in which the Nazis went about exterminating minorities in a medically immoral manner. In order to accurately determine how relevant the American euthanasia policy was in influencing the Nazi methods I will examine a variety of sources, ranging from the Jewish VirtualLibrary to articles written in the History News Network, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, an extract of the Nuremberg Code by Leo Alexander, and the book "War Against the Weak: Eugenics and America's campaign to create a master race" as well as an article based on the book, "Eugenics and America's Campaign to Create a Master Race" by Edwin Black. While several of these may contain bias (and are therefor limited in their value) they also present unique perspective as well as many objective accounts, making them useful in finding answers to the investigation.
B: Summary of Evidence
The Nazi regime had been systematically euthanizing "unfit" handicapped children who showed signs of mental illness or physical disability.' Hitler would later advocate the extermination of the Jewish people as a whole, typically making medical metaphors such as referring to them as the cancer of the world. It was in the summer of 1940 that Hitler altered the mental institute of Bernburg (which had served as such since 1875) to a euthanasia centre under the guise of being a "Stiftung für Anstaltspflege" or "Public Welfare foundation for the Mentally impaired". The process of centre the mentally and/or physically impaired under the Third Reich was largely mascaraed under the premise that it was part of medical research and crucial experimentation, when in reality, the T4 doctors (T4 being the codename for the euthanasia policy) were strongly motivated by racist and supremacist ideologies
that enabled them to conduct a variety of inhumane experiments on the patients." At arrival, patients would also be stripped of all valuables such as jewelry and gold teeth, whilst the most impaired patients (who were physically marked with red paint) were sent straight to the medical experimentation labs. Although "Aktion T-4" was officially terminated in 1941, its most grave practices continued in concentration camps throughout the Third Reich up until their defeat in 1945, and by then it is estimated that no less than 270,000 minorities lost their lives due to the acts committed on them in the name of either racial hygiene, medical experimentation, or "population control". The means, however, by which the Nazi's chose to massacre these minorities can have their roots traced to California in 1909, when it became one of 27 states to adopt laws permitting the use of eugenics in order to enforce sterilization and segregation policies, with over 60,000 Americans having ultimately been sterilized as a result. "The racist and pseudo-scientific nature of eugenics would have been a far more controversial matter in the United States, had it not been for the extensive funding of corporations such as the Rockefeller Foundation, Harriman Railroad Fortune and the Carnegie Institute, who were all invested in the widely respected scientists working on eugenics, such as Dr. Paul Popenoe, Paul Gosney. Charles Göthe and many more. Then, in 1929, the Carnegie Institute controversially established the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in Germany, as well as awarding it a $317,000 grant (not adjusted for inflation) to fund infamous Nazi doctor Josef Mengele in his research and experience, which he would later continue during his employment at Auschwitz. This is crucial to note, for up until 1939 the Carnegie Institute and Rockefeller Foundation jointly funded Nazi research at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute, which primarily consisted of the study of human heredity and eugenics." Stefan Kühl (professor of sociology at Mainz University) documents that the ideology between the Nazi "master race" policy was inline with leading eugenists in the United States, and emphasizes that the goals and objectives of doctors such as
C: Evaluation of Sources
Edwin Black, "The Horrifying American Roots of Nazi Eugenics" (2003)
This article was produced to shed light on the surprising roots for the Nazi euthanasia program." A strong value of it is that it was produced years in advance after the holocaust and can therefore include context that is not as emotionally charged as a similar text may be that would have been written around the time of the holocaust. This time gap, however, means that many primary sources (such as eye witnesses) may no longer be available. Black has a diversified team of international researchers, exposing him to a variety of viewpoints and thus incorporating a range of perspectives in his book. Being a trained journalist with a specialty in history, Black is able to comb through and make use of vast amounts of facts and data, which is clearly prevelant throughout this book. He is, however, not a professional historian, which may call into question his credibility as well as his ability to accurately and objectively present useful and relevant information.
Stefan Kühl, "The Nazi Connection: Eugenics, American Racism, And German National Socialism" (1994)
This source is a book written by a German professor of Sociology, in 1994, which may be problematic given that he may have some personal interest vested in the way that this issue makes people perceive his country in another way. His book is however very well cited and provides credible evidence regarding his claims, and the many decades between the publishing of this book means a lot of information may have come to light regarding these events. He is not however a historian by profession, although many of his works are of an historical nature. The purpose of this book is to educate and inform the reader on the origins of the Nazi euthanasia program. Some of its limitations lie in the origin of the author (him being a German), as well as the time in which it was written. This book was written many years after the events, and therefore may be missing many valuable sources that have since passed away. Kühl, whose family has a background in medicine and science, adds value to the integrity of this source by providing scientifically accurate definitions of eugenics, and the practices that were conducted by both American scientists and Nazi doctors.
D: Analysis
Stefan Kühl begins his book by suggesting that although the Nazism has faded in Germany, various eugenics programs are still alive today and being funded in the United States. Between 1986 and 1990, over $500,000 in grant money was awarded to the University of Minnesota for highly controversial twin studies, which experts say resembled that of infamous Nazi eugenist Josef Mengele. 12 Kühl starts his exploration of identifying the connection between American eugenics well after then end of WWII and the collapse of Nazism, while the rest of his book follows a chronological order starting from the early 20" century, when he quotes at the start of his second chapter a professional German medical doctor in a New York medicine and eugenics convention; "The decisive North American/recognizes the importance of heredity in determining mental and ph
the "Committee of the Eugenic Section of the American-German Breeder's Association to Study and to Report on Means for Cutting Off the Defective Germ- Plasm in the Human Population", from which the eighth point in the report insisted on euthanizing those that were not "racially-sound"." Both sources agree on a long standing German-American eugenics program and policy, but the two sources do however differ in regards to the concept of an Aryan master race. Black argues, "The concept of white, blond, blue-eyed Nordic master race never originated with Hitler. The idea was created and cultivated in California decades earlier".16 Kühl asserts that Hitler was never inspired by any American eugenics program, as he had not ever made mention of it in "Mein Kampf"." Instead, he elaborates that euthanasia program of the Third Reich was the manifestation of Hitler's xenophobia and racist ideology. Black also illustrates how Hitler made clear in "Mein Kampf" his admiration for certain racial policies of the U.S, such as President Coolidge signing the Johnson Immigration Act (which greatly limited the number of ethnic immigrants welcomed into the U.S), and quoting "As Coolidge said 'we must keep America American", we too must keep Germany German"." Black controversially states in the introduction of his book "the scientific rationales that drove killer doctors at Auschwitz were first concocted in Long Island at the Carnegie Institution's eugenic enterprise at Cold Spring Harbor" which sets the premise for his position throughout the rest of the book.
E: Conclusion
20th
Both sources agree that the extensive American eugenics programs in the early century had, to some degree, an impact on the Nazi euthanasia program. Pointing to belligerents such as the Carnegie Institution and several publicly funded universities, both Kühl and Black outline that the euthanasia program of the Third Reich was not at all bred in Germany or by Hitler in the 1920's. It can therefor be determined that these American eugenics programs were, to a large extent, influential
15 Edwin Black, "The Horrifying American Roots of Nazi Eugenics" (p.1)
ysical traits for the entire population, he does not hesitate to proceed/ to energetic practical action and to enact legislation which will lead to the ennoblement of the race." Kühl however makes an important recognition, where he states that the answer to who is to blame for the racism in the Third Reich is not quiet so black and white as one would think. He states that racism as a concept is a western construct, and it doesn't matter if it was the Americans in the 10's and 20's who manufactured one particular to Hitlers T-4 Program and similar death-camp protocols. There are however some underlying disagreements which should be taken into consideration. Both books devote roughly a third of their content to documentation, and many of the records cited show a clear indication to key Nazi figures either disclosing their admiration for American racist policies, having received money from American institutions to conduct racist eugenics programs, or even going so far as to cite the American model of racism as an institution to be what the Third Reich should strive for. Although the two sources have some disagreements, the answer to the question "How influential was American eugenics in the Nazi euthanasia program?" can be answered in that it was to a large degree very influential. The evidence to prove this is overwhelming, and has been clearly demonstrated by both Kühl and Black.
Bibliography:
Primary Sources:
"Euthanasia Program." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Washington, D.C.<http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/media_oi.php?lang=en&Moduleld=10005200&Mediald=1208>
Secondary Sources:
Black, Edwin. "The Horrifying American Roots of Nazi Eugenics." History News Network (2003): n. pag. Web.
Kühl, Stefan. The Nazi Connection: Eugenics, American Racism, and German National Socialism. New York, NY: Oxford UP, 1994. Print.
Neil, Robin. "The T-4 Program: Origins, Planning and Staff." Holocaust Research Project. N.p., n.d. Web.
Ploetz, Alfred. "Chapter 4." The Capability of Our Race and the Protection of the Weak. Berlin: n.p., 1895. N. pag. Print.
Warren, J. History and Historians, Hodder and Stoughton, 2004, Britain
