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: 001127-013
School: Nanjing International School
Examination session: May 2013
Word count: 1998
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A. PLAN OF THE INVESTIGATION ........................................................................................3
B. SUMMARY OF EVIDENCE...................................................................................................4
C. EVALUATION OF SOURCES................................................................................................6
Source 1: “Hitler 1936-1945: 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.....................................................................................................................10
F. REFERENCE LIST ......................................................................................................................11
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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 1936-1945: 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 1945. 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.
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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
20th 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.
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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 19th 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).
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C. EVALUATION OF SOURCES
Source 1: “Hitler 1936-1945: 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 2000. 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.
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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 1998.
e purpose of this article is to describe clearly the various euthanasia movements that existed in the
20th 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.
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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
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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”.
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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.
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F. REFERENCE LIST
BBC. (n.d.). Forms of Euthanasia. Retrieved from BBC Ethics Guide:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/euthanasia/overview/forms.shtml
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), 467-478.
Eugenics. (2010). In Oxford Dictionaries. New York: Oxford University Press. Retrieved from:
http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/american_english/eugenics?q=eugenics
Euthanasia. (2010). In Oxford Dictionaries. New York: Oxford University Press. Retrieved from:
http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/american_english/euthanasia?q=euthanasia
Kershaw, I. (2000). Hiter 1936-1945: 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.
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