HISTORY INTERNAL ASSESSMENT. Was Hitler s euthanasia policy a key component of his own. ideology, or a result of the influence of the euthanasia

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1 HISTORY INTERNAL ASSESSMENT Was Hitler s euthanasia policy a key component of his own ideology, or a result of the influence of the euthanasia movements during the time? Candidate name: Cesar Landin Candidate number: School: Nanjing International School Examination session: May 2013 Word count: 1998

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS A. PLAN OF THE INVESTIGATION... 3 B. SUMMARY OF EVIDENCE... 4 C. EVALUATION OF SOURCES... 6 Source 1: Hitler : Nemesis by Ian Kershaw... 6 Source 2: Race Culture: Recent Perspectives on the History of Eugenics by Frank Dikötter... 7 D. ANALYSIS OF THE SOURCES... 8 E. CONCLUSION F. REFERENCE LIST

3 A. PLAN OF THE INVESTIGATION One of the most important characteristics of the ird Reich was its forced killing programme, which led to the death of thousands of people. is investigation will answer the question: Was Hitler s euthanasia policy a key component of his own ideology, or a result of the influence of the euthanasia movements during the time? e research will focus on two main sources: the book Hitler : Nemesis by Ian Kershaw to discover Hitler s true motives behind forced-killing programmes, and the journal article Race Culture: Recent Perspectives on the History of Eugenics, by Frank Dikötter, to discover if there were euthanasia movements during the time. Apart from this, books and reports will be used to supplement these sources with information on eugenics and the Nazi Regime. To find out if euthanasia was a key part of Hitler s ideology, this study will focus first on the euthanasia movements in Europe from 1900 to is will be compared to the euthanasia movement in Germany from 1900 to Hitler s rise of power in 1933, and his policies from that time until the end of the Second World War. Finally, the beliefs of the National Socialist Party during its foundation will be analysed to discover if euthanasia was always part of its ideology. 3

4 B. SUMMARY OF EVIDENCE e period between the First and Second World Wars was characterised by rapid economical, technological and scientific development. e increase of life expectancy during the beginning of the 20 th century led to growing worries about overpopulation and race purity (Burleigh, 2000). Eugenics, according to Frank Dikötter, gave scientific authority to social fears lent respectability to racial doctrines, and provided legitimacy to sterilisation acts (Dikötter, 1998). e purpose of eugenics is to improve genetically a population to increase its desirable characteristics (Oxford Dictionaries, 2010). Euthanasia is one way of applying eugenics, and usually refers to the killing of a patient suffering from an incurable disease or painful condition, and can be done according to or against the will of a patient (Oxford Dictionaries, 2010). e eugenics movement was not confined to Germany, but was supported by scientists, politicians and citizens around the world, from Finland to India to Brazil (Dikötter, 1998). ere were several sterilisation programmes in Europe aimed at the mentally ill which were accepted and even encouraged by society, particularly in the Nordic welfare states. Denmark was the first Scandinavian country to pass a law on sterilisation, and in Finland there was no major discussion on eugenics as most doctors were in favour of sterilisation (Dikötter, 1998). According to Frank Dikötter, most of the countries that did important research on eugenics encountered little resistance from society, the church and the scientific community. But, democratic societies were more reluctant to adopt these programmes than fascist, socialist or authoritarian states around the world. For example, eugenic proposals in France aimed at the propagation of the fit were opposed by religious and liberal groups, so instead public initiatives focused on improving the circumstances of the unfit such as improving social hygiene and the educational system. 4

5 Discussion about eugenics and euthanasia in Germany began at the same time as it did in the rest of the world, when scientists and intellectuals came up with the theory of Social Darwinism at the end of the 19 th century. e government sanctioning of the destruction of life not worth living - a central part of Hitler s race policies- did not begin when the National Socialists took power, but had started with the reaction to a paper published by Karl Binding and Alfred Hoche, who demanded the killing of the incurably sick or mentally unstable, on the grounds that it was inefficient to spend resources on them (Kershaw, 2000). is same excuse was used to implement the Nazi s forcedkilling programmes. But, the majority of the population and the church disapproved of this at the time, and as Ian Kershaw states, doctors had overwhelmingly rejected euthanasia during the Weimar Republic. A starting point in finding out the ideology behind Hitler s policies is his book Mein Kampf. is book not only deals with his views on the conflict with the Jews, but also contains many of Hitler s views that shaped his policies later. According to Michael Burleigh, Hitler thought race was the main factor in determining the health and strength of a nation, believed that anyone not fit for life should perish and advocated the sterilisation of the incurably ill. Racial purity was crucial for the country because it prepared the country for what Hitler thought was an apocalyptic racial struggle against the Jews (Burleigh, 2000). No country in the world performed involuntary euthanasia at the time, but countries such as Sweden had sterilised tens of thousands of people in the years leading up to the Second World War (Dikötter, 1998). On the other side, the Nazi s euthanasia programme cost hundreds of thousands of lives: Ian Dowbiggin states that there were 100,000 killed (Burleigh, 2000), Ian Kershaw sets the death toll of Aktion T4 between 70,000 to 90,000 but states that since the killing continued, the number of victims may have been twice as large (Kershaw, 2000), and Michael Burleigh estimates that as many as 200,000 were systematically murdered (Dikötter, 1998). 5

6 C. EVALUATION OF SOURCES Source 1: Hitler : Nemesis by Ian Kershaw Ian Kershaw, a renowned British historian that has done vast research on Hitler and Nazi Germany, wrote this book in England in is book was created as a result of decades of research on the history of the ird Reich, and intended to give a clear explanation of Hitler s life and the Nazi regime. is widely published book was written to give a clear, objective and detailed explanation of Hitler s regime and the motives behind his actions. is public, non-official and direct source is valuable for this investigation because it was written relatively recently compared to other works on the subject. Ian Kershaw has been writing about Hitler for more than three decades and has published numerous books on Nazi Germany. Kershaw s work is further valuable because he used historical documents from German and Russian archives that had not been previously available to other historians. ere are few, if any limitations to this book. Kershaw is overall objective throughout the book, and creates a balanced discussion that is not subjective and that advances his point of view. Even though he is somewhat subjective as he tries to argue how the government was divided and was not led solely by the Führer, his analysis does not have the purpose of pointing out Hitler as a mass murder and a tyrant, but only to find out his true motives and the workings of the regime. 6

7 Source 2: Race Culture: Recent Perspectives on the History of Eugenics by Frank Dikötter Frank Dikötter is a Dutch historian and professor that has written extensively about China and Mao, and race and eugenics in China, earning recognition for his work. Dikötter wrote this article for the historical journal e American Historical Review in April e purpose of this article is to describe clearly the various euthanasia movements that existed in the 20 th century. It also explains and compares the attitudes that different nations had on eugenics. e journal in which it was published targets primarily casual readers interested in world history. is publication is very useful because it explains the motives behind many of the important eugenics movements around the world, and it shows how nations perceived the issue. It is a public, non-official and direct source that is useful to find out about euthanasia in Europe during the ird Reich. It is also very valuable because it was written by a distinguished historian and published in a magazine subjected to high standards of quality. Being a journal article on a controversial subject, it presents various limitations. First, it is a short article that does not have as much detail as a book. Secondly, the subject of the article probably complicated the research, as governments may hide information about their past eugenics programmes. Also, because of the depth of research involved in a journal publication, it is likely that the author used more secondary than primary sources. But, all of this is countered by the quality of the writing and the author s style, which tries to present the information as objectively as possible without taking any sides on the topic. 7

8 D. ANALYSIS OF THE SOURCES Eugenics was born in the interwar scientific and technological boom, a product of increasing worries about growing life expectancy and population, new discoveries in the area of genetics, and interest in class division and race. Frank Dikötter, who has written extensively on eugenics, described eugenics as an ideal movement for the time, for it gave credibility to pseudo-scientific claims and racist attitudes (Dikötter, 1998). His research has shown that there were simultaneous eugenic movements in Europe at the time, particularly in Nordic countries. e clear, factual information provided by Dikötter helps to understand that eugenics movements were worldwide phenomena, and shows how only Germany among the world had an euthanasia programme at the time. e debate on eugenics and euthanasia in Germany began years before debate on social Darwinism and genetics became mainstream, and was heavily influenced by existing discussion on the topic. Research in America and the Nordic countries was used by scientists in Germany to make a point for implementing mercy killing in hospitals and asylums (Burleigh, 2000). But, there was one key difference between Germany and the world: while public policies on eugenics usually focused on creating a better society by sterilising the genetically undesirable, in Germany it was taken into an extreme, and eugenics turned into euthanasia as the government asserted that terminating the life not worth living benefited the population. e Nazi s euthanasia policies were clearly influenced by two factors- Hitler s beliefs and opinions on race, and existing research and debate on eugenics and euthanasia. Ian Kershaw, after having done decades of objective and thorough research on German history, shows that the Führer s decision to implement euthanasia in Germany was justified publicly by stating that there could be a better use of hospitals and doctors in a war, apart from saving the nation valuable resources (Kershaw, 2000). But, there was a much more important underlying motive for this action- genetically improving the 8

9 Aryan race. Hitler clearly declares in Mein Kampf that he wants to end the lives of handicapped citizens along with those of the Jews, but solely for racial reasons. Hence, even though Hitler justified his policies with research from other countries, and arguments about how it benefited society and could help Germany in war times, the underlying motive for euthanasia was the quest for racial purity in Germany. Even though euthanasia was clearly a part of Hitler s ideology, he didn t have total responsibility for the killing of the mentally ill and disabled. ere was some strong opposition to the euthanasia programme when it became public, especially among the church, but most were in favour, or at least passively prepared to accept it (Kershaw, 2000). But, as Ian Kershaw states, Hitler had a decisive role in the euthanasia programme, as he set the tone for the escalating barbarism, approved of it, and sanctioned it. 9

10 E. CONCLUSION Adolf Hitler s euthanasia programmes were a unique component of the Nazi state, and caused the death of hundreds of thousands of German citizens that were deemed unfit for life. Hitler s euthanasia policies, like other of his actions, were heavily influenced by socioeconomic problems and worries, but existing ideas were taken to an extreme as he modified them to suit his political agenda. Research shows that eugenic movements were abundant at the time in Europe and the world, but that Germany was the sole nation that terminated the lives of those considered unworthy- the Nazi s mercy killing programme was out of touch with world events at the time. e Führer s true motive was only to purify the Aryan race, as he himself wrote in Mein Kampf, and used existing research and practical reasons for euthanasia to cover up for his atrocities. Hitler s euthanasia policy was a key component of his own ideology, and though it was influenced partly by social Darwinism and eugenics research, it was truly intended to strengthen the superior Aryan race- the root of the German state. 10

11 F. REFERENCE LIST BBC. (n.d.). Forms of Euthanasia. Retrieved from BBC Ethics Guide: Burleigh, M. (2000). e ird Reich- A New History. London: Macmillan. Dikötter, F. (1998). Race Culture: Recent Perspectives on the History of Eugenics. e American Historical Review, 103 (2), Eugenics. (2010). In Oxford Dictionaries. New York: Oxford University Press. Retrieved from: Euthanasia. (2010). In Oxford Dictionaries. New York: Oxford University Press. Retrieved from: Kershaw, I. (2000). Hiter : Nemesis. New York: W.W. Norton. Keyes, D. (2006). Race Science and Nazi Germany: Its Influence on Hitler s Ideology and Euthanasia Program. Berkeley: University of California Berkeley. 11