Plant Breeding and Agrarian Research in Kaiserwilhelm-Institutes 1933–1945: Calories, Caoutchouc, Careers

240 Pages·2008·4.34 MB·English

by  Susanne Heim (auth.)

PLANTBREEDINGANDAGRARIANRESEARCH
INKAISER-WILHELM-INSTITUTES1933–1945
BOSTONSTUDIESINTHEPHILOSOPHYOFSCIENCE
Editors
ROBERTS.COHEN,BostonUniversity
JÜRGENRENN,MaxPlanckInstitutefortheHistoryofScience
KOSTASGAVROGLU,UniversityofAthens
EditorialAdvisoryBoard
THOMASF.GLICK,BostonUniversity
ADOLFGRÜNBAUM,UniversityofPittsburgh
SYLVANS.SCHWEBER,BrandeisUniversity
JOHNJ.STACHEL,BostonUniversity
MARXW.WARTOFSKY,(Editor1960–1997)
VOLUME260
PLANT BREEDING
AND AGRARIAN
RESEARCH IN KAISER-
WILHELM-INSTITUTES
1933–1945
CALORIES, CAOUTCHOUC, CAREERS
SUSANNEHEIM
123
SusanneHeim
(cid:2)c WallsteinVerlag,Göttingen2003
Originally published – Kalorien, Kautschuk, Karrieren. Pflanzenzüchtung und landwirtschaftliche
Forschung in Kaiser-Wilhelm-Instituten 1933–1945, Wallstein (Göttingen), 2003, translator: Sorcha
O’Hagan
ISBN:978-1-4020-6717-4 e-ISBN:978-1-4020-6718-1
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2007936989
(cid:2)c 2008SpringerScience+BusinessMediaB.V.
Nopartofthisworkmaybereproduced,storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmitted
inanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,microfilming,recording
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Contents
Introduction:PoliticsandAgriculturalResearch....................... 1
SourcesandLiterature.......................................... 9
Calories–AgriculturalResearch,theFoodEconomyandWar .......... 15
HerbertBackeandSciencePolicy ................................ 15
ResearchonPlantandAnimalBreeding........................... 23
ForeignCurrencies,GeneticsandtheFodderGap.............. 23
AutochthonousAnimalSpeciesandArtificialInsemination ..... 35
The Four-Year Plan, ‘Greater Europe’,
andSubstituteSubstances....................................... 46
HydrobiologyandLimnologyfortheFour-YearPlan........... 46
InstituteProjectsinSouth-EasternEurope .................... 53
ResearchonNativeTextilePlants ........................... 63
ProductivizationofPeople ...................................... 69
TheScienceofAgriculturalWork........................... 69
WorkPhysiologyandNutritionalScience .................... 78
Résumé:WarasOpportunity .................................... 91
Caoutchouc–AVitalWarReserve ................................... 97
TheDevelopmentofaResearchProgramme ....................... 97
DependenceonNaturalRubber............................. 98
TheKok-SagyzNetwork ..................................102
SlaveLabourforScience .......................................118
Kok-SagyzCultivationinGerman-OccupiedEurope ...........118
PlantBreedingResearchinAuschwitz .......................133
Résumé:ScientificProductivityandTerror.........................149
Careers–HansStubbeandKlausvonRosenstiel ......................155
TwoBreedingResearchers ......................................155
ThePureAirofScientificResearch .........................156
TheSeamySideofAcademicLife ..........................162
TheAdvanceofScience ........................................165
WildPlantsasaGeneticResource...........................165
ResearchOrganisationintheOccupiedEast ..................178
v
vi Contents
Post-WarCareers ..............................................184
Résumé:Creators,Experts,Servants..............................190
Conclusions........................................................193
Science,NaziRuleandWar .....................................193
Bibliography.......................................................203
Illustrations .......................................................213
Index .............................................................215
Sources ...........................................................219
Acknowledgements
Thisstudywascompletedaspartoftheresearchprogramme‘HistoryoftheKaiser
Wilhelm Society in the National Socialist Era’, which was initially developed un-
der the leadership of Doris Kaufmann and then continued by Carola Sachse. My
colleaguesintheresearchprogrammehavehelpedinthecreationofthisbookover
a number of years, with discussions, criticism and much useful information. I am
particularlyindebtedtothem.Duringmyliteratureresearch,thestaffofthelibrary
of the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science assisted me with admirable
competence and enthusiasm. I owe thanks to them and to Axel Hüntelmann and
AnkePötzscher,withoutwhosehelponavarietyofdetailsthebookcouldnothave
been produced in its current form. Christine Rüter edited the manuscript in an ex-
tremelyprofessional,carefulandmeticulousmannerandimproveditinallmanner
ofways.Thankyou!
IamgratefultoSimoneFloersheim,MariaOssowski,EvaTichauerandBrigitte
Ullrich, who agreed to be interviewed and who patiently answered all my subse-
quent questions. I would also like to thank Brigitte Ullrich for providing a great
dealofexpertinformationonthebreedingofrubberplants.
The Presidential Commission of the Max Planck Society supported my work
most generously. I owe heartfelt thanks to the Commission in general and in par-
ticulartoitsChairman,ReinhardRürup,whocontributedvaluableideasduringthe
finaleditingphase.
Anumberofpersonalfriendsreadthemanuscriptofthisstudyatvariousphases
ofitsdevelopment,infullandinpart,andhelpedwithcriticisms,suggestionsand
encouragement.Theyknow,asdoI,howmuchIowethem.
vii
Abbreviations
AdBBAW ArchiveoftheBerlin-BrandenburgAcademyofSciences
AmtW AmtWirtschaft(partoftheWVHA(seebelow))
AOK Armeeoberkommando(ArmyHeadquarters)
Aufbaustab“K”AufbaustabKaukasus(aspyorganisation)
BA Bundesarchiv(FederalArchive)
BDC BerlinDocumentCenter
BdK BevollmächtigterfürdasKraftfahrwesen(PlenipotentiaryGeneralfor
AutomotiveAffairs)
BStU BundesbeauftragterfürdieUnterlagendesStaatssicherheitsdienstesder
ehemaligenDDR(FederalCommissionerfortheRecordsoftheNational
SecurityServiceoftheFormerGermanDemocraticRepublic)
ChefgruppeLa ChefgruppeLandwirtschaft(theAgricultureGroupofGöring’sEconomicStaff
East,underHerbertBacke)
ChefgruppeW ChefgruppeWirtschaft(theEconomicsGroupofGöring’sEconomicStaffEast)
DAF DeutscheArbeitsfront(GermanLabourFront)
DFG DeutscheForschungsgemeinschaft(GermanResearchFoundation)
ERR EinsatzstabReichsleiterRosenberg(thespecialtaskforcesetuptoseizecultural
assetsintheoccupiedterritories)
GBChem GeneralbevollmächtigterfürFragenderchemischenErzeugung(the
PlenipotentiaryGeneralforSpecialIssuesofChemicalsProduction)
HJ Hitlerjugend(HitlerYouth)
HSSPF HöhererSS-undPolizeiführer(HigherSSandPoliceFührer)
IMG/IMT InternationalerMilitärgerichtshof(InternationalMilitaryTribunal)
KfG KopiensammlungfürGrieger(archivalnote)
KVR Kriegsverwaltungsrat(acivilianSSofficer)
KWS KaiserWilhelmSociety
KWI KaiserWilhelmInstitute
MPS MaxPlanckSociety
MPI MaxPlanckInstitute
MWT MitteleuropäischerWirtschaftstag(CentralEuropeanEconomicConference)
ix
x Abbreviations
NA NationalArchives
NL Nachlaß(unpublishedworks/literaryestate)
NSD NationalsozialistischerDozentenbund(NationalSocialistLecturers’Association)
NSV NationalsozialistischeVolkswohlfahrt(NSPeople’sWelfareOrganization)
OKH OberkommandodesHeeres(HighCommandoftheArmy)
OKW OberkommandoderWehrmacht(HighCommandoftheArmedForces)
LG Landgericht(districtcourt)
PA Personalakte(Humanresourcesfile)
PAAA PolitischesArchiv,AuswärtigesAmt(PoliticalarchiveoftheGermanForeign
Office)
RA Reichsamt(ReichOffice)
REM ReichsministeriumfürWissenschaft,ErzieungundVolksbildung(ReichMinistryof
Science,EducationandPopularCulture)
RFR Reichsforschungsrat(ReichResearchCouncil)
RFSS ReichsführerSS(i.e.Himmler)
RK Reichskommisariat(ReichCommissariat)
RKF ReichskommissarfürdieFestigungdeutschenVolkstums(ReichCommissionerfor
theStrengtheningofGermanNationhood)
RMEL ReichsministeriumfürErnährungundLandwirtschaft(ReichMinistryofFoodand
Agriculture)
RMfbO ReichsministerimfürdiebesetztenOstgebiete(ReichMinistryfortheOccupied
EasternTerritories)
RMIn ReichsministeriumdesInnern(ReichMinistryoftheInterior)
RWM ReichsministeriumfürWirtschaft(ReichMinistryofEconomicAffairs)
SBZ SowietischeBesatzungszone(theSoviet-occupiedzonewhichlaterformedthe
GDR)
SD Sicherheitsdienst
SS-Ogruf. SS-Obergruppenführer
StA Staatsanwaltschaft(publicprosecutor’soffice)
TG TechnischeGutsberatung(TechnicalLandManagement)
uk unabkömmlich(indispensable,i.e.releasedfrommilitaryservice)
USHMM UnitedStatesHolocaustMemorialMuseum
VoMi VolksdeutscheMittelstelle(OfficefortheRepatriationofEthnicGermans)
V-Waffe Vergeltungswaffe(‘vengeanceweapon’)
WiIn Wirtschaftsinspektion(EconomicInspectorate)
WiStab Wirtschaftsstab(EconomicStaff)
WVHA Wirtschaftsverwaltungshauptamt(SSEconomicandAdministrativeMainOffice)
ZfO ZentralefürOstforschung(CentreforResearchontheEast)
ZK Zentralkommittee(CentralCommittee)
ZStL ZentraleStellederLandesjustizverwaltungenzurAufklärungvonNS-Verbrechenin
Ludwigsburg
Introduction: Politics and Agricultural Research
Of the three terms that form the title of this volume, ‘calories’, ‘caoutchouc’ and
‘careers’, none carries undertones of the ‘blood and soil’ ideology or the romanti-
cisedviewofagriculturethatareoftenseenasthetypicalcharacteristicsofNational
Socialist agricultural policies. And indeed, the subject under investigation in this
book is not the backward-looking ideas of men such as Richard Walther Darré,1
wallowinginmythsofpeasantsinextricablylinkedwiththeirnativesoil.Rather,this
studyexaminesavarietyofattemptstoeliminatecontinentalEurope’sdependence
onimportsofrawmaterialsfromoverseas,examininginparticulartherelationship
between science and war. The investigation focuses on scientists working at the
KaiserWilhelmInstitutesthatspecialisedinagriculturalandfoodresearch,andhow
theseindividualsbehavedtowardstheNazistateanditsexpansionarypolicies.The
KaiserWilhelmSociety(KWS),foundedin1911,wasanumbrellaorganizationthat
oversawarangeofscientificresearchinstitutes(KWIs).Theseweregivenexcellent
materialsupportandweredevotedtofundamentalresearchinspecificfieldsofsci-
ence.ThefundingoftheinstitutescamefromtheGermanstateandpartlydepending
ontheinstitutes,fromGermanindustry.Incontrasttouniversity-basedresearchers,
those at KWIs had no teaching obligations. The study forms part of the research
programme ‘History of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society in the National Socialist Era’,
whichisfundedbytheMaxPlanckSociety,andisasummaryofthefindingsofthe
project‘“East”and“Lebensraum”ResearchatKaiserWilhelmInstitutes’.
The political concept of Lebensraum [‘living space’], according to which the
Germanssawthemselvesas‘apeoplewithoutspace’,alsotookascientificform.As
such,itbecamelinkedwithdisciplinessuchasgeography,spatialresearch,history,
sociology and demography that used a variety of data to provide a rationale for
strategies of spatial conquest.2 At first glance, the natural sciences would seem to
befarremovedfromthiskindofideologisedscience.Butagriculturalresearchwas
1DarréhadadegreeinagricultureandwasMinisterofFoodandEducationfrom1933to1944.He
outlinedhisideasontheroleofthepeasantryinthe‘nationalrenewal’ofGermanyintwobooks,
DasBauerntumalsLebensquellderNordischenRasse(ThePeasantryastheLifeSourceofthe
NordicRace)(1929)andNeuadelausBlutundBoden(ANewNobilityfromtheBloodandthe
Soil)(1930).
2Köster,Redeüberden‘Raum’.
S.Heim,Calories,Caoutchouc,Careers,1–13.
(cid:2)C SpringerScience+BusinessMediaB.V.2008 1