The racial ideology of the Nazis is known for its cruelty. After half a century, it is extremely difficult for us, modern people, to imagine that not so long ago it was enshrined in Germany at the legislative level. Nazi ideology implied the existence of such a category of population as the Untermans. What kind of people are these? Jews, gypsies, Slavs and most colored races were considered the second grade compared to true Aryans. This policy has led to the Holocaust, one of the saddest events of recent history.
Nazi ideology
The racial hygiene preached by Hitler's minions included a set of government-enforced rules that allowed certain groups to have offspring and others not. They were denoted by the term "Untermensch". What did this mean for them? This population group should have gradually died out, since their genetic characteristics were recognized by “specialists” as undesirable. Nazi ideology was considered official at the beginning of the 20th century in Germany. Similar policies have been pursued in some European, North American and South African countries. The author of the concept on which it was based was Arthur de Gobino. He believed that race creates a culture, so the mixing of different genetically people leads to chaos. Racial hygiene has historically been linked to traditional notions of public health, emphasizing inheritance. Francis Galton was looking for statistical evidence of the need for such an ideology. In 1883 he introduced the concept of eugenics to denote a new field of science. After Mendel's discoveries, the latter began to be used to legitimize racial hygiene policies.
Origin of the concept
Racial affiliation was one of the main categories of Nazi ideology. The Aryans were considered ideal in their genetic properties. At the lowest level were the Untermans. What kind of people are these? The Nazis called it “strangers,” “masses from the East,” that is, Jews, Gypsies, and Slavs (mainly ethnic Poles, Serbs, and then Russians). The term was also used to refer to the majority of peoples of all races except Caucasoid, with some exceptions. Jews were subject to total annihilation during the Holocaust, and the Slavic population of Eastern Europe were subject to reduction through massacres. Some people also had to be sent to Asia or become slaves of the Reich. Some peoples were partially recognized as Aryan, so they had to be Germanized.
True aryan
The Nazis were guided in their policies by eugenics. They considered the Aryans to be the supreme race that should dominate the planet. The rest of the population was to be gradually destroyed through massacres and a ban on reproduction. To date, this view is recognized as pseudoscientific. Aryan can only be languages. The idea of Gobino, which the fascists adapted to their needs, is completely incorrect.
A distinctive feature of the Aryans, the Nazis considered blue eyes and blond hair. They considered them to be the highest race, which surpasses all others in physical, moral and mental properties. Hitler and his supporters advocated the preservation of purity of blood, Germany was seen by them as the ruler of the whole world. All other races are only performers, practically slaves, who are not capable of independent creativity, manifestation of spirit and willpower. In addition to the Scandinavians, the Japanese were ranked among the Aryans. The sharp opposite was seen by the Jews. The latter were subject to complete destruction.
People of the second grade
When they talk about such a category as Untermensch, what it is and what this classification is associated with, they usually immediately recall the Nazis. However, in fact, the term was first coined by an American author. Lotrop Stoddard, in his book Riot Against Civilization, published in 1922, wrote that the lower race is a direct threat to humanity. He ranked the Bolsheviks to it. According to Stoddard, in 1917, the most degenerate people on Earth seized power in Russia. The problem was not only the political doctrine itself, but also the people living in this territory. Perhaps Nietzsche and his “superman” inspired Stoddard to create this concept.
Jewish question
A true Aryan cannot engage in sexual relations with the Semites. The former were considered the creators of modern civilization, the latter as a destructive force and a degenerate factor. Jews were considered only as the antipode of the Germans, who parasitized on the wealth of other peoples and cultures. Therefore, their destruction was declared "the salvation of all mankind." Initially, many Jews hoped that the Nazis would respect the rights of minorities, to which they included themselves. However, the real state of affairs soon became clear. Gradually, Jews began to be excluded from cultural, political and economic life. In 1938, their open persecution began. Jewish passports were declared invalid, and bank accounts were frozen. By the beginning of World War II, a concept was developed for the mass destruction of “racially undesirable” representatives of the population. Its peak occurred in 1942, later Jews began to be used as labor, because hands in Germany were sorely lacking.
Attitude to gypsies
It is important to understand that the lower race is not only Jews. In fact, everyone except the Germans themselves can be attributed to it. The problem with the gypsies was that they speak the language of the Indo-Aryan group. However, they were still declared an inferior race. It was believed that European Gypsies had long been mixed with other nationalities, and therefore could not be considered as full-fledged Aryans. At the end of the 1930s, their forced sterilization began and sent to labor camps. Later, massacres of Gypsies, as well as Jews, begin.
Legislating inequality
Nazi ideology was not just preached, it was legislated at the state level. Back in 1933, all non-Aryan officials were dismissed. The new inheritance law suggested that only Germans could own and transfer land over 7.5 hectares to their descendants. Marriages between Aryans and Semites were outlawed. In 1935, the Nuremberg Laws were published, in which the signs of purebred were enshrined. Despite the race, alcoholics, drug addicts, mentally ill, mentally disabled, invalids, and representatives of sexual minorities were also declared as Untermenschs. Since 1936 - also gypsies. The Nazis went directly to the mass destruction of "non-people" with the outbreak of war with the Soviet Union.