In Search of Aryan Blood

256 Pages·2012·3.236 MB·English

by  Rachel E. Boaz

C E U P r e s s S t u d i e s i n t h e
H i s t o r y o f M e d i c i n e
I
Rachel E. Boaz
In Search of “Aryan Blood”
Serology in Interwar and National Socialist Germany
In Nazi Germany, basic civil rights—and ultimately the right to live—depended on
whether one had “German blood.” Meticulous racial categorization of individuals as
either “German-blooded” or “non-German-blooded” relied primarily upon documen-
tation, such as birth and baptismal certificates. Labeling was compulsory, as everyone
was required to carry identification indicating their race. However, in cases where par-
entage was in dispute or the necessary records were missing, the state often referred the
matter to so-called “racial experts.” In one such instance in 1940, Fritz Lenz explained
to a district court that he could not give an expert opinion without first testing the sub-
ject’s blood type. The Ministry of Justice became involved and referred the matter to
Outlining the problem
In Search of “Aryan Blood”
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IntroductIon
cEu Press Studies in the History of Medicine
Volume IV
Series Editor: Marius Turda
5
Published in the series:
Svetla Baloutzova
demography and nation
Social Legislation and Population Policy in Bulgaria, 1918–1944
C
Christian Promitzer · Sevasti Trubeta · Marius Turda, eds.
Health, Hygiene and Eugenics in Southeastern Europe to 1945
C
Francesco Cassata
Building the new Man
Eugenics, Racial Science and Genetics in Twentieth-Century Italy
ii
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Outlining the problem
In Search of “Aryan Blood”
Serology in Interwar and National Socialist Germany
Rachel E. Boaz
CCeennttrraall EEuurrooppeeaann UUnniivveerrssiittyy PPrreessss
BBuuddaappeesstt——NNeeww YYoorrkk
iii
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IntroductIon
© 2012 by Rachel E. Boaz
Published in 2012 by
Central European University Press
An imprint of the Central European University Limited Company
Nádor utca 11, H-1051 Budapest, Hungary
Tel: [phone] or 327-3000 · Fax: [phone]
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.ceupress.com
400 West 59th Street, New York NY 10019, USA
Tel: [phone] · Fax: [phone]
E-mail: [email protected]
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
without the permission of the Publisher.
ISBN 978 9639776500
ISSN 2079-1119
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Cassata, Boaz, Rachel E.
In search of "Aryan blood" : serology in interwar and National Socialist Germany / Rachel E. Boaz.
p. cm. (CEU Press studies in the history of medicine, ISSN 2079 1119 ; v. 4)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978 9639776500 (hardbound)
1. National socialism and medicine History. 2. Serology Political aspects Germany History 20th century. 3. Anthropology
Political aspects Germany History 20th century. 4. Racism in medicine Germany History 20th century. 5. Racism in
anthropology Germany History 20th century. 6. Biopolitics Germany History 20th century. 7. Antisemitism Germany History
20th century. 8. Germany Politics and government 1918 1933. 9. Germany Politics and government 1933 1945. 10. Germany
Ethnic relations History 20th century. I. Title.
R510.B63 2011
616.07950943 dc23
2011037678
Printed in Hungary by Akadémiai Nyomda, Martonvásár
iv
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Outlining the problem
c o n t E n t S
liST OF FigureS vii
ACKNOWleDgeMeNTS ix
iNTrODuCTiON 1
CHAPTER I: THe eMergeNCe OF BlOOD SCieNCe 9
“Contagious Blood” in German Fiction and Early Blood Science 10
Origins of Serology 17
The Völkisch Notion of “Blood Defilement” 20
Seroanthropology 26
Jewish Physicians and Blood Science 34
Postwar Blood Science 38
CHAPTER II: SerOANTHrOPOlOgy iN THe eArly 1920s:
BlOOD, RACe, AND eugeNiCS 41
Frigyes Verzár and Oszkár Weszeczky: Seroanthropological
Research in Hungary 42
Surveying “Native Germans” 47
Blood Type and Genetic Inferiority 58
Völkisch Research 63
CHAPTER III: OrgANiZiNg SerOANTHrOPOlOgy:
THe eSTABliSHMeNT OF THe gerMAN iNSTiTuTe
FOr BlOOD grOuP reSeArCH 71
Otto Reche and Racial Anthropology 72
The German Institute for Blood Group Research 79
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contEntS
CHAPTER IV: SerOANTHrOPOlOgy AT iTS HeigHT:
DiSTiNguiSHiNg THOSe WiTH "Pure BlOOD" 89
Studies of “Native Germans” 90
Biased Research 99
CHAPTER V: THe jeW AS exAMiNer AND exAMiNeD 117
E. O. Manoiloff’s “Serochemistry” and Jewish Blood 124
Seroanthropological Analysis of Jews 126
Völkisch Propaganda 138
Jews and Seroanthropology 141
CHAPTER VI: BlOOD AS MeTAPHOr AND SCieNCe
iN THe NureMBerg RACe lAWS 149
Seroanthropology in 1933 150
Proponents of Seroanthropology 155
Racial “Reform” under Nazism 157
“Blood Defilement” 163
Diverse Means of “Blood Defilement” 170
Seroanthropological Research in the Third Reich 173
The German Institute for Blood Group Research 176
CHAPTER VII: THe PeDAgOgy AND PRACTiCe
OF SerOANTHrOPOlOgy DuriNg WOrlD WAr ii 187
Seroanthropology and National Socialist Medicine 192
Seroanthropological Research 197
Seroanthropology and Nazi Racial Ideology 204
Clinical Serology 211
CONCluSiON 225
iNDex OF NAMeS 243
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l I S t o f f I g u r E S
Fig. 1 “Bloodletting Man” | 13
Fig. 2 Graph of Hirszfeld’s biochemical race index | 31
Fig. 3 Steffan’s depiction of the Atlantic “type A” pole in northern Germany | 53
Fig. 4 Steffan’s depiction of the Gondwanic “type B” pole in Peking | 54
Fig. 5 Otto Reche | 81
Fig. 6 Photograph of researcher drawing a blood sample from a child’s ear | 91
Fig. 7 Diagram of facial shapes to aid examiners in shape classification from
German Institute for Blood Group Research | 105
Fig. 8 Profiles showing long, medium, and short skulls from German Institute for
Blood Group Research | 105
Fig. 9 Diagram to help determine eye color | 105
Fig. 10 Searching for correlations: A detailed graph by Paul Steffan comparing the
blood types and eye colors of 256 subjects | 109
Fig. 11 Map by Paul Steffan showing Hirszfeld’s biochemical racial indices
throughout Europe as of 1927 | 113
Fig. 12 Karl Landsteiner | 132
Fig. 13 The blood types O, A, and B in “humans and several other primates”
according to Landsteiner and Miller | 134
Fig. 14 Ludwik Hirszfeld | 145
Fig. 15 World map showing distribution percentages of type A blood | 153
Fig. 16 Chart for the Nuremberg Laws, from the Reich Ministry of the Interior,
showing the proportion of “German” or “Jewish” blood that determined an
individual’s racial classification | 169
Fig. 17 All articles of original research on blood group distribution, 1919–1939 | 183
Fig. 18 “Donor-on-the-hoof” system: possible placements of donor giving blood to
recipient | 221
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A c K n o W l E d g E M E n t S
I received support and assistance from many in writing this manuscript.
For their guidance and advice, I want to thank Richard A. Steigmann-Gall,
Shelley O. Baranowski, Elizabeth M. Smith, and Alison Fletcher. Marius
Turda and Paul Weindling provided both invaluable judgment and shar-
ing of information. I am indebted to both Marius and Nóra Vörös for their
patience and careful editing. There are numerous librarians and archivists
to whom I am grateful for their assistance: Anja Adelt (Hauptstaatsarchiv
Stuttgart), Andreas Grunwald (Hauptstaatsarchiv, Berlin), and Jonathan
Hartnett, Vincent Slatt, and Ron Coleman (all at the United States Holo-
caust and Memorial Museum). I am further indebted to Kent State Uni-
versity’s interlibrary loan department for handling dozens of my requests.
Of the authors whose work I have cited throughout the text, William H.
Schneider, Michael G. Kenny, Douglas A. Starr, and Pauline M. H. Mazum-
dar were especially helpful. For their advice and encouragement, I am fur-
ther indebted to my colleagues and friends Monika Flaschka and Erika
Briesacher, and my family and Zachary for their moral support.
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