Before World War II, German scientists were engaged in various medical experiments as a way of revolutionizing Germany state by cleansing all the human species that were perceived as threatening to the country. The medics were involved in establishing various medical approaches, mostly associated with the human genetics in order to develop a master race. Their plans were directed towards racial cleansing at which the German population was perceived as pure and was not supposed to be interfered with by other seemingly dangerous races.
Development of eugenics is one of the issues that the government-funded medics and scientists were in a position to achieve (Friedlander, 1995). Eugenics deals with the establishment of a scientifically-oriented society, which share a common interest of developing the genetic compositions of the society. This aspect involved the development of movements allied to the bio-social practices, and with goals aimed at establishing a genetically-enhanced society (Kline, 2001).
The Nazi community established means of eradicating certain populations from the nation as there were perceived as causing genetic degradation of the Germanic race and genes. Racial hygiene was therefore started as an approach of eradicating the alleged diseased genes of some communities. Through enhanced eugenics, the Nazis were in a position of brainwashing the masses into believing that the Germanic genetic composition should be protected and enhanced in order to achieve superiority and dominance (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 2011).
The Nordic race was the race that was regarded as ideal by the Hitler-led government. This race was considered as the most perfect and as the most superior of all the other races. For this reason, all the other races were regarded as less important and less valuable to the German community. From Hitler’s orders, all races that were different from the Nordic race, they were excommunicated and discriminated against in all forms. They were looked down upon and were never supposed to mingle with a Nordic person, as they would affect the genetic makeup.
The researchers who had hitherto concentrated on the development of a racially clean community were funded by the government in order to intensify their researches on the genetic preservation and enhancement. Through the use of force, the Hitler’s government management to establish Nazi eugenics that was aimed at ensuring that all the negatively perceived genes were eliminated (Kline, 2001). The government took over control of all the institutions in order to brainwash the masses into believing in the effectiveness of racial hygiene, as it was commonly known to the Germans.
One of the first initiatives in the development of a genetically-clean community was through the use of state-backed restrictions on intermarriages between hereditably fit and those perceived as less valuable to the Germans. These aspects were aimed at ensuring that there were no genetic contaminations with the target group being mainly the Jews. The Nordic community was not supposed to engage in any intermarrying initiative with another race as the genetic superiority as perceived then, would depreciate. This created great disparities between the races in Germany with clear discrimination and prejudicial activities emerging. The communities were increasingly becoming more disintegrating and the Nordics were getting more into eugenics.
The researchers then embarked on looking into foodstuffs as well as other seemingly poisonous products like alcohol and tobacco, which were regarded as being dangerous to the super race. The government enacted bans that disallowed the Nordic community to keep off such seemingly poisonous products. Nobody who was perceived to be carrying the super race was supposed to engage in any behavior that could cause harm to the future generations. The Nazi regime expected the entire country to be inhabited by people with perfect genetic make up in order to produce a super race.
After the intervention of the Nazi government into the coupling affairs and childbirth, all the children that were born of the seemingly less valuable races were killed in order to reduce the possibilities of having semi-perfect genetic makeup (Kline, 2001). This perfect community was also expected to give birth to other perfect offspring at a high rate. For this reason, the use of contraceptives was totally banned since it was considered as interfering with the birth rate in the country. The Nordic population was expected to increase at a speedy rate and the use of contraceptives was perceived as inhibiting to the development of a perfect race. The products that were perceived as dangerous and as potential harms to the later generations were banned from the country and for this reason there was no alcohol, tobacco, or any other drug that had the possibility of causing defects to the future generations.
The homosexuals were the next target for the Nazi eugenics. This is because they were considered to be of no help to the expansion of the future super race. This is because they were not in a position of having children of their own and were thus contributing to the decreasing population growth rate (Bachrach, 2007). They were therefore perceived as liabilities to the super race and were considered as better off dead. The Nazi regime therefore ordered that all the homosexuals to be killed as a way of cleansing the genetic makeup of the super race. Spearheaded by the police head, the homosexuals were killed in large numbers in order to remove the variations and the limits towards a super race. They were categorized in the same category as the less valuable persons and were considered to bring genetic degradation to the super race, irrespective of their affiliations to the Nordic race.
The government then embarked on a mass sterilization program that targeted the diseases that were genetically affiliated. This process, which was implemented as law, was conducted in order to prevent the expansion of genetically diseased offspring. These individuals were perceived as dangerous to the entire population as they would increase the possibility of disease spread (Grossmann, 1995). The racial hygiene campaigners saw this as an opportunity to eradicate all the races that were diseased as well as those which were prone to certain diseases. Some of the target diseases were schizophrenia, epilepsy, genetic blindness and other diseases which had an attachment to the genetic formation of individuals.
The individuals were therefore expected to undergo tests that would ascertain their positions with regard to these diseases. For this reason, the persons who were seen to have such diseases or in a position to pass such genes to the future generations were killed and those who were left were declared fit to live and multiply.
There were hereditary courts that were established in various locations and physicians and other specialists were hired to conduct the tests (Friedlander, 1995). The persons who were found to suffer from these cases were subjected to certain penalties as the law stipulated. The law was therefore operational to only those people who were found to have genetic complications. For the men, they were subjected to forced vasectomy as a way of preventing the spread of the conditions to the future generations. Tubal ligation was the option for women to prevent the spread of these genes to the future generations. While these procedures were being carried out, there was recorded massive death rate as those performing them were not accountable as they perceived the individuals as liabilities to the development of the super race.
The development of these laws influenced the manner in which the international community perceived the Hitler’s initiatives (Friedlander, 1995). While eugenics from other countries supported the move by Hitler, the governments were opposed to these grotesque activities in Germany. They saw Hitler as an individual who had no respect for the human rights. There was reported increased deaths from the genetically prone individuals either during their sterilization process, or when subjected to other medically incorrect initiatives. The eugenics that was increasingly becoming popular in Germany especially among those considered to be genetically fit influenced the split among the various persons living in the country.
The racial hygiene was coupled by the elimination of the racially foreign individuals. In 1933, the government passed a law that was meant to see the reduction of the Jews, through the blood protection law. This law was targeted towards the Jews, who were not supposed to mix with the Germans. The law was aimed at reducing the intermarriages and increasing the mixed blood between the communities in Germany (Grossmann, 1995). Since the Nordic race was seen as the ideal race, it was not supposed to be contaminated by other blood. It was meant to remain pure and for this reason, the law prevented the Germans from having children with the Jews as the blood would be contaminated with a less valuable one. The Jews were therefore counted in the same category as the genetically weak individuals and as a result, they were not supposed to mingle or even to live together with the Germans. The segregation rule was therefore applied and this entailed the application of force in order to bring together all the Jews to one area.
It was made a crime to engage in any sexual activity with a Jew as they were seen as potential contaminants to the perfect race and genetic makeup. The Jews were seen as potential danger to the genetic formation of the future Germans and the government contemplated on completely emigrating them from Germany. The first emigration strategy entailed some tens of thousands of Austrian Jews as well as their property (Friedlander, 1995). They were not supposed to share or to live together with the Germans. They were therefore excommunicated by use of force from the Nazi police and ordered out of the country.
The ones that remained were bundled into concentration camps as a way of reducing the possibilities of intermarrying with the Germans. While at the camps, many Jews were killed, while the other was used as slaves for the development of German activities. The Jews were convinced that the only way to survive was by leaving the country and joining other countries other than Germany. It was considered as a way of survival for the Jews to be emigrated into other regions as well as their properties and all their affiliations. They were perceived as dangerous to the entire Nordic race, the perceived super race that was highly protected by the government.
Euthanasia became the common ideology in Germany in the quest for a perfect and super race. The Nazi government spearheaded a campaign to terminate the lives of those persons who appeared to be weak or disabled. This was a strategy that was aimed at ensuring that all the persons in Germany were fit and strong enough to form the expected stronger race. The persons who were therefore diagnosed with certain fatal and contagious diseases were killed before spreading the disease to the rest of the community. The Nazi regime therefore followed the idea that the minority had to be eliminated for the sake of the majority and also for the benefit of the future society.
The Nazi program therefore conducted surveys in all the regions to determine the number of people who were disabled in one way or another (Bachrach, 2007). Through the quest for a perfect and super race that was genetically protected all the disabled persons were collected and killed. This was meant to improve the face of the super race, which was not supposed to have any element of weakness or defect (Bachrach, 2007). Through the intensifying eugenics, the cripples, blind and deaf persons were declared as unfit in the definition of a super race and they were therefore killed in mass numbers without any sign of remorse or regret from the government. This quest for a scientifically supper race, caused the death of many people in the region. The Nazi government was very serious on cases f immigration as well as on the cases involving inter-racial marriages. The lunacy that was demonstrated by the government, through its various institutions enhanced the grotesque activities, which prompted the intervention of the international community. These policies, which were racially driven and discriminative, caused massive deaths to not only the foreign races, but also the internal races that seemed less valuable genetically.
The diseased as well as the disabled persons were regarded as liabilities to the Nordic race and they were highly disregarded in the society. It was apparent that the researchers and scientists were well funded by the government in its quest to eliminate weaknesses in the genetic makeup of its citizens. This is what led to the intensified deaths as well as the increased torture and forced sterilization of the genetically sick persons as well as those who appeared to be weaker in genetic composition.
References
Bachrach, S .(2007). Deadly Medicine. The Public Historian 29 (3), 19-32.
Friedlander, H. (1995). The Origins of Nazi Genocide: From Euthanasia to the Final Solution. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press.
Grossmann, A. (1995). Reforming Sex: The German Movement for Birth Control and Abortion Reform, 1920–1950. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Kline, W. (2001). Building a Better Race: Gender, Sexuality, and Eugenics from the Turn of the Century to the Baby Boom. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. (2011). Deadly Medicine: Creating the Master Race. Retrieved from http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/deadlymedicine/
