“We must have a healthy people to dominate in the world”.

In July 1933, Hitler’s Nazi party passed a new law for the compulsory sterilisation of anyone with a physical disability, or “congenital feeble-mindedness”. They claimed this was scientifically sound, and for the moral and biological good of the Aryan race. The measure darkly foreshadowed the tragedies to come, as Nazi Germany ratcheted up its horrific program of racial sterilisation, euthanasia and extermination. But why did the Nazis see their horrific crimes as beneficial to the fatherland, and consider themselves on the right side of History? What motivated Hitler, the figurehead behind these terrifying ideologies, to act on them? And how many of these ideas, propagated by Hitler and his generals, were shared and accepted by the German people?

Join Tom and Dominic as they delve into the roots of the Nazis’ pseudo-science: from the glorification of ancient Greece, Rome, and the “Nordic” race, to the intellectual ideals of the 19th century, in which Darwinism and the survival of the fittest flourished. They attempt to unravel one of the darkest ideologies in all world history, and their uniquely hideous brand of anti-semitism. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices