Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Anthropology, Human Heredity, and Eugenics
Encyclopedia
The Kaiser Wilhelm Institute
of Anthropology, Human Heredity, and Eugenics
(KWI-A) was founded in 1927. The Rockefeller Foundation
supported both the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Psychiatry and the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Anthropology, Human Heredity and Eugenics. The Rockefeller Foundation partially funded the actual building of the Institute and helped keep the Institute afloat during the Depression.
Eugen Fischer
Anthropologist. First director of the KWI-A. Worked primarily in the area of race eugenics, an area of work that straddled both the Second Reich (in German South West Africa) and the Third Reich. His areas of specialization included Bastard studies
, the name then in use for the offspring of mixed races. He coordinated his work with fellow International Federation of Eugenics Organizations
member Charles Davenport
. Even before Fischer formally became a Nazi in 1940, he devoted himself to directing various programs identified with the Nazi agenda, including twin study
, sterilization, and euthanasia (Action T4
). Prior to his retirement from the KWI-A in 1942, Fischer prepared the transition of leadership from himself to Otmar Freiherr von Verschuer
, the second Director of the KWI-A, partly through a shift in emphasis from twin study to phenogenetics
. Fischer was a racial anti-Semite. He participated in the Final Solution (volkstod) to the Jewish Question when he attended the Frankfurt Institute for the Investigation of the Jewish Question on March 27-28, 1941.
Otmar Freiherr von Verschuer
Physician, Anthropologist. Joined the National Socialist Party in 1940. Became the second director of the KWI-A. Started at the KWI-A in 1927 (under Eugen Fischer
, the first Director of the KWI-A), as the director of the KWI-A Department of Human Genetics; he subsequently became director of the KWI-A Division on Twin Research. In 1935 Verschuer continued to work at the KWI-A but shifted his primary attention to the Frankfurt Institute for Genetic Biology and Racial Hygiene ('Institut für Erbbiologie und Rassenhygiene'), leading the sterilization effort in the city of Frankfurt. Verschuer once again gave his primary attention to the KWI-A in 1942, when he succeeded Fischer as Director of the KWI-A. Verschauer worked primarily in the area of twin study
, with a strong interest in racial hygiene
as implemented via sterilization. He was responsible for implementing the transition from twin study to phenogenetics
: an approach. that emphasized what modern scientists would call developmental biology. Two of Verschuer's most well-known assistants were Karin Magnussen
and Josef Mengele
. Karin Magnussen studied eyes from living twins at Auschwitz harvested for her by Mengele at Auscwitz. Verschauer participated in the Final Solution ('volkstod') to the Jewish Question when he attended the Frankfurt Institute for the Investigation of the Jewish Question on March 27-28, 1941. At the close of the war, Verschuer hid or destroyed the records of KWI-A activities and other activities, at his family home.
Karin Magnussen
Biologist, teacher. Researcher at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Anthropology, Human Heredity, and Eugenics during Germany's Third Reich, known for her 1936 publication "Race and Population Policy Tools", and her studies of heterochromia iridis (different colored eyes) using iris specimens from Auschwitz concentration camp victims (supplied by her colleague, Joseph Mengele).
Josef Mengele
Physician, anthropologist. Closely associated with the KWI-A due to his relationship with Otmar Freiherr von Verschuer
. Mengele earned doctorates in anthropology from Munich University and in medicine from Frankfurt University. Verschuer was Mengele's doctoral advisor at the Frankfurt Institute for Genetic Biology and Racial Hygiene; Mengele joined Verschuer's staff as a "promising young researcher" in 1937, the same year he officially joined the Nazi party. When Verschuer became Director of the KWI-A in 1942, he continued his association with Mengele. A member of the Waffen-SS, Mengele performed human experiments on inmates at Auschwitz death camp, primarily on twins (mainly children). Mengele supplied Karin Magnussen
with iris specimens from Auschwitz concentration camp victims, for her studies of heterochromia iridis (different colored eyes). Mengele was the only one of the Nazi anthropologists who was prosecuted before an international court because his crimes were so obvious. He was sentenced in absentia, for he had escaped to South America.
.
Stellae of characteristics measured by anthropometry were grouped into distinct stereotypes. For example, "Jews" had a particular type of nose; "Blacks" had kinky hair; "Gypsies" were always criminals; etc. However, the work done at the KWI-A used as criteria to identify races, such as:
These stereotypes were primarily used to create propaganda support for the Lebensborn
program; the sterilization program; the euthanasia program; genocide at concentration camps; deportations; and medical experimentation done by other programs such as the Waffen-SS (low pressure experiments, hyper- and hypothermia experiments, etc.). For details, see the Doctors' Trial
, also known as the Nuremberg Medical Trial.
The purpose of the propaganda was to dehumanize those who were considered to be enemies of the Third Reich. Methods of dehumanization included the use of stereotypes in newspapers (Julius Streicher
cartoons) and films such as Jud Süß (1940 film)
. At that time, films that were very popular internationally, such as "Nosferatu" (directed by F. W. Murnau, starring actor Max Schreck
), depicted dehumanized forms with very wan complexions, long noses and long ears, and cadaverous body shapes, who drank blood. Unfortunately, some people in the 21st century still believe these things.
Kaiser Wilhelm Institute
The Kaiser Wilhelm Society for the Advancement of Science was a German scientific institution established in 1911. It was implicated in Nazi science, and after the Second World War was wound up and its functions replaced by the Max Planck Society...
of Anthropology, Human Heredity, and Eugenics
Eugenics
Eugenics is the "applied science or the bio-social movement which advocates the use of practices aimed at improving the genetic composition of a population", usually referring to human populations. The origins of the concept of eugenics began with certain interpretations of Mendelian inheritance,...
(KWI-A) was founded in 1927. The Rockefeller Foundation
Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...
supported both the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Psychiatry and the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Anthropology, Human Heredity and Eugenics. The Rockefeller Foundation partially funded the actual building of the Institute and helped keep the Institute afloat during the Depression.
Important Personnel
The Kaiser Wilhelm Society was composed of high-level representatives or liaisons with the German government, as well as industrialists and financiers. These also included people with political contacts (especially during the Third Reich, people who insured that National Socialist attitudes would prevail at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institutes.) Later on, during the Nuremberg War Criminal Trials, interlocking directorates expressing political, financial and governmental direction were discussed and are precisely what existed at the Kaiser Wilhelm Society. In terms of the actual work accomplished at the Kaiser Wilhelm institutes, the most important institute was the KWI-A. This was reflected in the fact that the KWI-A was the only institute with a "W" classification (Wehrwirtschaft; important for a wartime economy). It was first directed by Eugen Fischer (1927-1942), then Otmar von Verschuer (1942-1945), until the Kaiser Wilhelm institutes were renamed Max Planck institutes.Eugen FischerEugen FischerEugen Fischer was a German professor of medicine, anthropology and eugenics. He was director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Anthropology, Human Heredity, and Eugenics between 1927 and 1942...
Anthropologist. First director of the KWI-A. Worked primarily in the area of race eugenics, an area of work that straddled both the Second Reich (in German South West Africa) and the Third Reich. His areas of specialization included Bastard studiesBastard studies
During both the Second Reich and the Third Reich,"bastard" studies were carried out...
, the name then in use for the offspring of mixed races. He coordinated his work with fellow International Federation of Eugenics Organizations
International Federation of Eugenics Organizations
The International Federation of Eugenic Organizations was founded in 1925. Most members of this organization united eugenics with racism with political propaganda for the enhancement of the 'white race'." Charles Davenport founded the International Federation of Eugenic Organizations and was its...
member Charles Davenport
Charles Davenport
Charles Benedict Davenport was a prominent American eugenicist and biologist. He was one of the leaders of the American eugenics movement, which was directly involved in the sterilization of around 60,000 "unfit" Americans and strongly influenced the Holocaust in Europe.- Biography :Davenport was...
. Even before Fischer formally became a Nazi in 1940, he devoted himself to directing various programs identified with the Nazi agenda, including twin study
Nazi twin study
The methodology of twin study has been used for fraudulent purposes by many scientists. Two famous examples are the "Burt Affair" and Otmar Freiherr von Verschuer's work at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Anthropology, Human Heredity, and Eugenics....
, sterilization, and euthanasia (Action T4
Action T4
Action T4 was the name used after World War II for Nazi Germany's eugenics-based "euthanasia" program during which physicians killed thousands of people who were "judged incurably sick, by critical medical examination"...
). Prior to his retirement from the KWI-A in 1942, Fischer prepared the transition of leadership from himself to Otmar Freiherr von Verschuer
Otmar Freiherr von Verschuer
Otmar Freiherr von Verschuer was a German human biologist and eugenicist concerned primarily with "racial hygiene" and twin research...
, the second Director of the KWI-A, partly through a shift in emphasis from twin study to phenogenetics
Phenogenetics
Phenogenetics was a new paradigm used to study genetics as pursued at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Anthropology, Human Heredity, and Eugenics. Phenogenetics would more accurately be described to be more comprehensive than genetics, to be extended into what is now understood to be epigenetics,...
. Fischer was a racial anti-Semite. He participated in the Final Solution (volkstod) to the Jewish Question when he attended the Frankfurt Institute for the Investigation of the Jewish Question on March 27-28, 1941.
Otmar Freiherr von VerschuerOtmar Freiherr von VerschuerOtmar Freiherr von Verschuer was a German human biologist and eugenicist concerned primarily with "racial hygiene" and twin research...
Physician, Anthropologist. Joined the National Socialist Party in 1940. Became the second director of the KWI-A. Started at the KWI-A in 1927 (under Eugen FischerEugen Fischer
Eugen Fischer was a German professor of medicine, anthropology and eugenics. He was director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Anthropology, Human Heredity, and Eugenics between 1927 and 1942...
, the first Director of the KWI-A), as the director of the KWI-A Department of Human Genetics; he subsequently became director of the KWI-A Division on Twin Research. In 1935 Verschuer continued to work at the KWI-A but shifted his primary attention to the Frankfurt Institute for Genetic Biology and Racial Hygiene ('Institut für Erbbiologie und Rassenhygiene'), leading the sterilization effort in the city of Frankfurt. Verschuer once again gave his primary attention to the KWI-A in 1942, when he succeeded Fischer as Director of the KWI-A. Verschauer worked primarily in the area of twin study
Nazi twin study
The methodology of twin study has been used for fraudulent purposes by many scientists. Two famous examples are the "Burt Affair" and Otmar Freiherr von Verschuer's work at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Anthropology, Human Heredity, and Eugenics....
, with a strong interest in racial hygiene
Racial hygiene
Racial hygiene was a set of early twentieth century state sanctioned policies by which certain groups of individuals were allowed to procreate and others not, with the expressed purpose of promoting certain characteristics deemed to be particularly desirable...
as implemented via sterilization. He was responsible for implementing the transition from twin study to phenogenetics
Phenogenetics
Phenogenetics was a new paradigm used to study genetics as pursued at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Anthropology, Human Heredity, and Eugenics. Phenogenetics would more accurately be described to be more comprehensive than genetics, to be extended into what is now understood to be epigenetics,...
: an approach. that emphasized what modern scientists would call developmental biology. Two of Verschuer's most well-known assistants were Karin Magnussen
Karin Magnussen
Karin Magnussen was a researcher at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Anthropology, Human Heredity, and Eugenics during Germany's Third Reich, known for her 1936 publication "Race and Population Policy Tools", and her studies of heterochromia iridis using iris specimens from Auschwitz concentration...
and Josef Mengele
Josef Mengele
Josef Rudolf Mengele , also known as the Angel of Death was a German SS officer and a physician in the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. He earned doctorates in anthropology from Munich University and in medicine from Frankfurt University...
. Karin Magnussen studied eyes from living twins at Auschwitz harvested for her by Mengele at Auscwitz. Verschauer participated in the Final Solution ('volkstod') to the Jewish Question when he attended the Frankfurt Institute for the Investigation of the Jewish Question on March 27-28, 1941. At the close of the war, Verschuer hid or destroyed the records of KWI-A activities and other activities, at his family home.
Karin MagnussenKarin MagnussenKarin Magnussen was a researcher at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Anthropology, Human Heredity, and Eugenics during Germany's Third Reich, known for her 1936 publication "Race and Population Policy Tools", and her studies of heterochromia iridis using iris specimens from Auschwitz concentration...
Biologist, teacher. Researcher at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Anthropology, Human Heredity, and Eugenics during Germany's Third Reich, known for her 1936 publication "Race and Population Policy Tools", and her studies of heterochromia iridis (different colored eyes) using iris specimens from Auschwitz concentration camp victims (supplied by her colleague, Joseph Mengele).Josef MengeleJosef MengeleJosef Rudolf Mengele , also known as the Angel of Death was a German SS officer and a physician in the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. He earned doctorates in anthropology from Munich University and in medicine from Frankfurt University...
Physician, anthropologist. Closely associated with the KWI-A due to his relationship with Otmar Freiherr von VerschuerOtmar Freiherr von Verschuer
Otmar Freiherr von Verschuer was a German human biologist and eugenicist concerned primarily with "racial hygiene" and twin research...
. Mengele earned doctorates in anthropology from Munich University and in medicine from Frankfurt University. Verschuer was Mengele's doctoral advisor at the Frankfurt Institute for Genetic Biology and Racial Hygiene; Mengele joined Verschuer's staff as a "promising young researcher" in 1937, the same year he officially joined the Nazi party. When Verschuer became Director of the KWI-A in 1942, he continued his association with Mengele. A member of the Waffen-SS, Mengele performed human experiments on inmates at Auschwitz death camp, primarily on twins (mainly children). Mengele supplied Karin Magnussen
Karin Magnussen
Karin Magnussen was a researcher at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Anthropology, Human Heredity, and Eugenics during Germany's Third Reich, known for her 1936 publication "Race and Population Policy Tools", and her studies of heterochromia iridis using iris specimens from Auschwitz concentration...
with iris specimens from Auschwitz concentration camp victims, for her studies of heterochromia iridis (different colored eyes). Mengele was the only one of the Nazi anthropologists who was prosecuted before an international court because his crimes were so obvious. He was sentenced in absentia, for he had escaped to South America.
Prosecution For War Crimes
Fischer, Verschuer, Magnussen and many others involved in medical anthropology during the Third Reich were never prosecuted as war criminals, though it was recommended several times, because it was feared that the German public would utterly lose confidence in both German science and the German medical establishment; thus, the political transition after World War II, into the Cold War, would not be disrupted. Although some of the preceding views may seem controversial, there is ample written documentation to substantiate these views. A more complete historical record continues to be impeded by the limited access provided to the public of further documentation. See Research Materials: Max Planck Society ArchiveResearch Materials: Max Planck Society Archive
At the end of World War II, the Kaiser Wilhelm Society was renamed the Max Planck Society, and the institutes associated with the Kaiser Wilhelm Society were renamed "Max Planck" institutes. The records that were archived under the former Kaiser Wilhelm Society and its institutes were placed in the...
.
Kaiser Wilhelm Institute and National Socialist Propaganda
Anthropobiology was used to support stereotyped views of Gypsies, Jews, Blacks, the mentally ill, and physically handicapped people. Anthropobiology utilized anthropometry: the measurement and recording of "metrics" (different physical or mental factors) which could then be used to classify people by race or value. To create reproducible anthropometric results, Hermann Werner Siemens developed a technique called "polysymptomatic similarity diagnosis ". This was initially associated with twin research, as such measurements would only be of value if they were understood to be inheritable and independent of the environment.Stellae of characteristics measured by anthropometry were grouped into distinct stereotypes. For example, "Jews" had a particular type of nose; "Blacks" had kinky hair; "Gypsies" were always criminals; etc. However, the work done at the KWI-A used as criteria to identify races, such as:
- hair color and shape
- skin color
- color of lanugo hairs
- eye color
- freckles
- telangiesctasia
- cornification in hair follicles
- tongue creases
- blood group
- skulls (shape, capacity)
- facial characteristics
- shape of the ear
- form of the hand
- dactyloscopy (handprints, fingerprints)
- body type
- spine vertebrae types
- Human race crossings
- Human internal organs:
- shape (heart)
- stomach function
- taste sensations
- anterior pituitary hormone
- menarche and climate
- hardness of soft tissues
These stereotypes were primarily used to create propaganda support for the Lebensborn
Lebensborn
Lebensborn was a Nazi programme set up by SS leader Heinrich Himmler that provided maternity homes and financial assistance to the wives of SS members and to unmarried mothers, and also ran orphanages and relocation programmes for children.Initially set up in Germany in 1935, Lebensborn expanded...
program; the sterilization program; the euthanasia program; genocide at concentration camps; deportations; and medical experimentation done by other programs such as the Waffen-SS (low pressure experiments, hyper- and hypothermia experiments, etc.). For details, see the Doctors' Trial
Doctors' Trial
The Doctors' Trial was the first of 12 trials for war crimes that the United States authorities held in their occupation zone in Nuremberg, Germany after the end of World War II. These trials were held before U.S...
, also known as the Nuremberg Medical Trial.
The purpose of the propaganda was to dehumanize those who were considered to be enemies of the Third Reich. Methods of dehumanization included the use of stereotypes in newspapers (Julius Streicher
Julius Streicher
Julius Streicher was a prominent Nazi prior to World War II. He was the founder and publisher of Der Stürmer newspaper, which became a central element of the Nazi propaganda machine...
cartoons) and films such as Jud Süß (1940 film)
Jud Süß (1940 film)
Jud Süß is an antisemitic propaganda film produced in 1940 by Terra Filmkunst at the behest of Joseph Goebbels. The movie was directed by Veit Harlan, who wrote the screenplay with Eberhard Wolfgang Möller and Ludwig Metzger, and starred Ferdinand Marian and Harlan's wife Kristina Söderbaum.The...
. At that time, films that were very popular internationally, such as "Nosferatu" (directed by F. W. Murnau, starring actor Max Schreck
Max Schreck
Friedrich Gustav Max Schreck was a German actor. He is most often remembered today for his lead role in the film Nosferatu .-Early life:Max Schreck was born in Berlin-Friedenau, on 6 September 1879....
), depicted dehumanized forms with very wan complexions, long noses and long ears, and cadaverous body shapes, who drank blood. Unfortunately, some people in the 21st century still believe these things.
See also
- Nazi eugenicsNazi eugenicsNazi eugenics were Nazi Germany's racially-based social policies that placed the improvement of the Aryan race through eugenics at the center of their concerns...
- Research Materials: Max Planck Society ArchiveResearch Materials: Max Planck Society ArchiveAt the end of World War II, the Kaiser Wilhelm Society was renamed the Max Planck Society, and the institutes associated with the Kaiser Wilhelm Society were renamed "Max Planck" institutes. The records that were archived under the former Kaiser Wilhelm Society and its institutes were placed in the...
- Max Planck Society Archive
- EugenicsEugenicsEugenics is the "applied science or the bio-social movement which advocates the use of practices aimed at improving the genetic composition of a population", usually referring to human populations. The origins of the concept of eugenics began with certain interpretations of Mendelian inheritance,...
- Shark Island, German South West Africa
- Herero and Namaqua GenocideHerero and Namaqua GenocideThe Herero and Namaqua Genocide is considered to have been the first genocide of the 20th century. It took place between 1904 and 1907 in German South-West Africa , during the scramble for Africa...