Activity 9: Racism and Science

In the 19th Century Charles Darwin developed the theory of evolution in which he argued that millions of years ago human beings evolved from apes.  A significant aspect of this theory was a belief in ‘the survival of the fittest’ or ‘natural selection’ which, crudely explained, meant it was natural for the strongest members of a species to survive and that some species would become altogether extinct.

This Darwinian theory influenced some scientists in the 19th Century who used the notion of ‘survival of the fittest’ to justify the exploitation of black people by Europeans.  These racial theorists argued that white people were the superior race followed by ‘yellows’ then ‘blacks’.

The Nazis also manipulated Darwin’s scientific theory for their own ends. They turned his ideas into a pattern for social and political organisation.  This is known as Social Darwinism.

• Given what you have learned about the Nazi attitude towards so-called ‘non-Aryans’, which groups of people do you think they considered ‘weak’ and which groups ‘strong’?
• What do you think was the Nazis attitude to the people they considered ‘weak’?

Look at the poster below:

The title = "The eradication of the sick and weak in nature."

• Describe what you see in the images?
• What connection is there between the 2 images and the poster’s title?
• The words at the bottom read: "That which does not satisfy the demands of Being collapses."  What Nazi theory do you think is promoted by this poster?
• The poster was one of a series entitled “Theory of Inheritance and Racial Hygiene”.  What do you think the Nazis meant by this?
• Today a similar phrase is used about such racism.  The phrase is ‘ethnic cleansing’.  What are the similarities between the terms ‘ethnic cleansing’ and ‘racial hygiene’?

• The poster above was produced in 1935.  The Nuremberg Laws were passed in this year.  What connection can you make between those laws and this poster? You may wish to look back at the ‘Purpose of the Racial Laws – Answer Page’ activity to remind you of these laws.
• What is the difference between rooting out a diseased tree from a garden and rooting out a person with a disease from society?
• Why do you think the Nazis used the comparisons with nature to promote their ideas about a racially pure society?  In what ways are such comparisons misleading?
• What does the poster tell us about the Nazi regime’s manipulation of science for their own political ends?
• Explain which of the following statements you agree with and why: