Eugen Fischer, about 1938

Hitler read Fischer's textbook Principles of Human Heredity and Race Hygiene while in prison at Landsberg and used eugenical notions to support the ideal of a pure Aryan society in his manifesto, Mein Kampf (My Struggle). When he came to power in 1933, Hitler charged the medical profession with the task of implementing a national program of race hygiene - a key element of which was passage of an act permitting involuntary sterilization of feebleminded, mentally ill, epileptics, and alcoholics. Within a year, more than 50,000 sterilizations were ordered, and doctors competed to fill sterilization quotas. By the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, an estimated 400,000 people had been sterilized. (DNAi location: Chronicle > In the Third Reich > Taking the torch)

eugen fischer,race hygiene,involuntary sterilization,human heredity,medical profession,epileptics,dnai,third reich,second world war,alcoholics,landsberg,quotas,hitler,outbreak,manifesto,notions,torch,textbook,doctors,element

  • ID: 15745
  • Source: DNALC.DNAi

Related Content

15466. The connection between American eugenics and Nazi Germany, James Watson

James Watson talks about the connection between American eugenics and Nazi Germany.

  • ID: 15466
  • Source: DNAi

15822. Eugen Fischer and Max Planck

Eugen Fischer, director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Anthropology, Human Genetics, and Eugenics, with Max Planck.

  • ID: 15822
  • Source: DNAi

15736. Charles Davenport and Eugen Fischer

Charles Davenport, 1925, and Eugen Fischer, about 1938.

  • ID: 15736
  • Source: DNAi

11820. "Eugenical Sterilization in Germany," Eugenical News (vol. 18:5), commentary and full translation of the German sterilization statute of 1933 (4)

"Eugenical Sterilization in Germany," Eugenical News (vol. 18:5), commentary and full translation of the German sterilization statute of 1933 (4)

  • ID: 11820
  • Source: EA

15434. Eugenics loses favor in the U.S., but gains support in Nazi Germany , James Watson

James Watson talks about eugenics loses favor in the U.S., but gains support in Nazi Germany .

  • ID: 15434
  • Source: DNAi

15773. Benno Muller-Hill and James Watson montage

Benno Muller-Hill and James Watson discuss what happened to Nazi doctors after the war and what can be learned from Hitler's attempt to make a perfect race.

  • ID: 15773
  • Source: DNAi

15766. James Watson at the former Kaiser Wilhelm Institute

James Watson at the former Kaiser Wilhelm Institute. Source: Jan Witkowski, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.

  • ID: 15766
  • Source: DNAi

15819. Kaiser Wilhelm Institute and plaque, still image with detail

James Watson at the former Kaiser Wilhelm Institute. Source: Jan Witkowski, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.

  • ID: 15819
  • Source: DNAi

15755. Psychiatric hospital in Wiesloch, Germany, about 1925

Psychiatric hospital in Wiesloch, Germany, about 1925. Source: Deutsches Hygiene-Museum.

  • ID: 15755
  • Source: DNAi