The second world war has left an indelible mark in history, and the horrors that

were committed in its name instil the same disgust than in the past. There was a lot of

turmoil in Europe between the two world wars. A series of background events, such as

the invasion of China by the empire of Japan and the rise of fascism in Italy, coupled with

the socio-economic tensions of the great depression, are often held responsible for the

outbreak of war. However, the leading force behind Germany at the time, the national

socialism party, can also be held accountable for starting the war. Hitler's ideology of the

Aryan race dominated most of his political moves, which killed thousands of people in

his own country before spreading to the other nations. Hitler's ideology and policies

borrowed some elements from other country, such as the science of eugenics, to achieve

his horrendous goals. According to the Merriam-Webster, eugenics is “a science that

deals with the improvement (as by control of human mating) of hereditary qualities of

race or breed”. Eugenics was at the heart of Nazi ideology and, consequently, was used as

the basis for legislation that brought about the death of millions in the beginning of the

second world war.

The birth of eugenics traces back to the great discovery of Charles Darwin on

natural selection. Charles Darwin was a British naturalist born during the nineteenth

century. He is mostly recognized for his extensive studies of nature and animals, as well

as his numerous trips around the globe in order to complete said studies. During his

lifetime, he published many books, including one that was called “On the Origin of

Species”. In this book he detailed his theory of evolution based on natural selection,

saying that the strongest of a group (animals in this case) would be most likely to survive

and reproduce, thus passing on its genes and improving the genetic pool of the specie. He
did not venture, however, into the human realm and did not associate his theory with our

evolution. Moreover, he is not credited for inventing the science of eugenics. The one

who built from Darwin's theory to create eugenics is none other than his half-cousin,

Francis Galton. Himself a decorated scientist, he expanded on the theory of Darwin,

noting that trying to support and provide for the weakest elements of society would bring

about a counter-evolution. The international journal of mental health resumes it in these

words :

...the advances of civilization would result in an “unnatural” over breeding of

inferior types, which would eventually lead to a gradual deterioration of
humankind. The latter theory was based on the idea that whereas nature had
previously tended to eliminate the disabled and infirm, the advances of science
and medicine and the humanitarian impulse of society to care for them would
result in the increased breeding of inferior types, with the resultant decline of the
racial stock (physicians and the nazi euthanasia program p.2)

The social and historical context should not be taken lightly, since they provide the base

of the reasoning behind eugenics as thought of by Galton. During the nineteenth century,

the enlightenment movement was strongly implanted in many countries over the world,

such as France, Germany and the United-States. It brought about some major change on

the social and legal point of view. Thus, humanitarian ideals were more prominent in the

time of Galton. The man behind eugenics had no wrong intentions in mind when he

formulated the theory. Like many other scientist and thinkers of the era, Galton focused

all of his work towards the improvement of his society. He argued that eugenics could

contribute to the general health of the public and reinforce the genetic background (PNEP

2). Both positive and negative eugenics could be applied, either by encouraging

“desirable birth” or disapproving of “undesirable birth” (PNEP 2). Specialists from

different fields such as medicine, genetic, biology and anthropology studied the notions
of eugenics and tried to bring its elements into their own fields. The theory found way in

psychiatry and in some case, anthropology. This mixture of social and scientific fields to

explain purely social situations is referred to as social darwinism (USNA 1). From there,

the social implications inherent to eugenics began to be discussed and, in some cases,

distorted to serve other purposes than the improvement of society. Hitler's government

used eugenics to his advantage, but they were certainly not the first to use this science in

order to implement laws and restrictions. To evaluate its chances of success, Germany

turned its eyes towards another powerful country, the United-States.

The twentieth century saw the rise to power of the United-States. Even though

they were not as powerful as their are now, they were well under way and their

international impact was slowing building. Germany learned a lot from practises already

in place in the US regarding eugenics and sterilization. The apparition of eugenics in the

United-Stated came from three emerging developments : “a belief in scientific

management and rational planning, the pressures of economic instability, and the arrival

of the progressive era” (UNSA 3). The progressives of the time (which included a good

deal of eugenicists) tried to convince the general public that a healthier genetic stock

would decrease the expenses of the government and the economic instability. The hype

and accolades from the scientific world sufficed to convince those in search of a rational

side. Legislations were put in place around 1907, and by 1923, 23 states had eugenics

related sterilization laws (UNSA 3). Most of them were involuntary, meaning that the

approbation of the person was not needed to proceed. In general, these laws were applied

on mentally ill people and criminals. Coincidentally, those two particular groups

contained more minority and poor people than what was found on average in the rest of
society.