Richard Weikart - Darwinian Racism: How Darwinism Influenced Hitler, Nazism, and White Nationalism

D ARWINIAN
R ACISM

D ARWINIAN R ACISM

HOW DARWINISM INFLUENCED
HITLER, NAZISM, AND
WHITE NATIONALISM

RICHARD WEIKART

SEATTLE DISCOVERY INSTITUTE PRESS 2022

Description

To hear some tell it, Adolf Hitler was a Christian creationist who rejected Darwinian evolution. Award-winning historian Richard Weikart shows otherwise. According to Weikart, Darwinian evolution crucially influenced Hitler and the Nazis, and the Nazis zealously propagated evolutionary theory during the Third Reich. Inspired by arguments from both Darwin and early Darwinists, the Nazis viewed the Nordic race as superior to other races and set about advancing human evolution by ridding the world of inferior races and individuals. As Weikart also shows, these ideas circulate today among white nationalists and neo-Nazis, who routinely use Darwinian theory in their propaganda to advance a racist agenda. Darwinian Racism is careful history. It is also a wake-up call.

Copyright Notice

2022 by Discovery Institute. All Rights Reserved.

Library Cataloging Data

Darwinian Racism: How Darwinism Influenced Hitler, Nazism, and White Nationalism by Richard Weikart

Cover design by Brian Gage

188 pages, 6 x 9x 0.4 inches and 0.6 lbs, 229 x 152 x 10 mm & 0.26 kg

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021951765

ISBN: 978-1-63712-009-5 (paperback), 978-1-63712-011-8 (Kindle), 978-1-63712-010-1 (EPUB)

BISAC: SCI034000 SCIENCE/History

BISAC: HIS014000 HISTORY/Europe / Germany

BISAC: SOC070000 SOCIAL SCIENCE/Race & Ethnic Relations

BISAC: POL042030 POLITICAL SCIENCE/Political Ideologies/Fascism & Totalitarianism

Publisher Information

Discovery Institute Press, 208 Columbia Street, Seattle, WA 98104

Internet: discoveryinstitutepress.com

Published in the United States of America on acid-free paper.

First edition, first printing, February 2022

A DVANCE P RAISE

With meticulous historical scholarship, Richard Weikart builds a convincing case that the Nazi worldview was influenced by Darwins theory of evolution. Scrutinizing original documents from Nazi propaganda to school curricula to scientific journals, he amasses evidence that Darwinism played a prominent role in Nazi racial ideology. When Hitler massacred millions of people, in his twisted logic he was lending a helping hand to the evolutionary struggle for existence. In an intriguing final section, Weikart surveys literature from todays neo-Nazis, white nationalists, and alt-right proponents to show that these groups likewise invoke Darwinian theory to claim that their racism is scientific. As always, Weikart is thoughtful, thorough, and convincing.

Nancy Pearcey , professor and scholar in residence at Houston Baptist University, author of Total Truth and Love Thy Body, co-author of The Soul of Science.

This is an excellent book which is long overdue. In it Professor Weikart documents the close relationship between Nazism and social Darwinism. In doing so he uncovers important roots of contemporary racism while documenting the growth of scientific racism, which for almost one hundred years dominated Western education, policy making, and society. Drawing on well-documented evidence he shows how Darwinism fueled the eugenics movement, racist attitudes, and a disregard for human dignity. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in todays world and the history of modern oppression as well as the terrifying history of the twentieth century and a driving force behind Nazism.

Irving Hexham , professor of religion, University of Calgary, author of Understanding World Religions

Richard Weikart brilliantly exposes some of the bad ideas that led to the Holocaust. He convincingly answers his critics who deny the deep influence of Darwin on Hitler. He also unveils the Darwinian influence on todays alt-right racism. Weikart compels us to learn from the dark past to avoid repeating it.

Michael Newton Keas , lecturer in history and philosophy of science, Biola University; author of Unbelievable: 7 Myths about the History and Future of Science and Religion

Richard Weikart displays extensive knowledge of the relevant sources and the scholarly debates on Darwinism in Nazi Germany. He convincingly argues that Darwinian evolutionary theory was a core component of the Nazi worldview, and one that directly influenced Nazi policy. Its sure to become the standard work on the subject.

William Skiles , assistant professor of history, Regent University

In this well-researched and powerfully written book, Richard Weikart shows how Hitler and his National Socialists operationalized nature red in tooth and claw. Here was social Darwinism on steroids. The historiography of this era will be significantly shaped by this persuasive account. A must-read!

Michael A. Flannery , professor emeritus of UAB Libraries, University of Alabama at Birmingham, author of Natures Prophet: Alfred Russel Wallaces Evolution from Natural Selection to Natural Theology

A CKNOWLEDGMENTS

A S WITH ANY SCHOLARLY WORK , I AM DEEPLY INDEBTED TO MANY other scholars who have studied these issues before me. Their names are found in the citations throughout the book. I also want to thank those who read the manuscript before publication and provided me with encouraging comments or suggestions for revisions: Mike Flannery, Irving Hexham, Mike Keas, Nancy Pearcey, William Skiles, John West, and Jonathan Witt.

I would also like to thank the libraries and archives that facilitated my research. First and foremost was the Inter-Library Loan Department of my own university, California State University, Stanislaus. In addition, thanks to the Hoover Institution archive and library at Stanford University; the Akademie der Knste archive in Berlin; the Ernst-Haeckel-Haus archive in Jena; the Staatsbibliothek Preussischer Kulturbesitz archive in Berlin; the University of California, Berkeley library; the University of Californias Northern Regional Library Facility; and the California State Library. Thanks also to Wilfried Ploetz, who allowed me to do research in the Alfred Ploetz papers.

Some of the material in this book I already published in a peer-reviewed scholarly journal: The Role of Darwinism in Nazi Racial Thought, German Studies Review 36 (2013): 537556.

Thanks also to Discovery Institutes Center for Science and Culture for supporting my work throughout the years. Jonathan Witt did an amazing job editing my manuscript and preparing it for publication.

Finally, thanks to God, my wife, and my children for blessing me in ways too many to count.

C ONTENTS

I NTRODUCTION

I T WAS THE SPRING OF 1999 , A D ENVER SUBURB . T HE DAY , A PRIL 20 Adolf Hitlers birthday. An eighteen-year-old white nationalist, Eric Harris, donned a shirt emblazoned with Natural Selection before heading off to high school. For weeks he had been preparing a special event in honor of the Fhrer. Together with a co-conspirator, Dylan Klebold, he planted a bomb in the Columbine High School cafeteria. Harris planned to shoot his fellow students as they fled the explosion. When the bomb failed to detonate, he and Klebold entered the school and opened fire, killing thirteen and wounding twenty-four before turning their guns on themselves.

Why was Harrisas are many white nationalists todayso eager to honor both Hitler and Darwin? Why did he think Darwins theory of natural selection provided fodder for his white nationalist ideology? What were the connections?

If we delve into the ideology of Nazis, neo-Nazis, and white nationalists, we find that Darwinismthe view that species have evolved over eons of time through the process of natural selectionplays a fundamental role, shaping their views about race and society. Both Hitler and Harris, together with other Nazis and white nationalists, believed that Darwinian theory contributed several key ideas to their racist ideology. Most importantly, they thought Darwinism implied that different races had evolved to different levels, with some races superior and others inferior. Further, they believed that these allegedly unequal races were locked in an inescapable struggle for existence, in a competition to the death. Nazis and white nationalists consider it their mission to advance their own race in this universal racial struggle, even to the point of perpetrating violence against those deemed their racial enemies. In the Darwinian struggle for existence, someone has to die, after all.