Racial Science in Hitler's New Europe

Racial Science in Hitler's New Europe examines the implementation of Nazi racial policies across German-occupied Europe during World War II. The book focuses on how local scientists and institutions in various countries participated in and adapted Nazi racial ideology to their own national contexts. Through case studies spanning multiple countries including Norway, Hungary, Romania, and Croatia, the authors analyze how racial science manifested differently across regions. The contributions explore the role of anthropologists, medical professionals, and other experts who helped develop and execute racial classification systems and eugenic programs. The collection reveals extensive collaboration between German authorities and local scientific communities in implementing racial policies. Records and documents demonstrate how academic institutions and researchers actively contributed to the Nazi racial agenda while advancing their own nationalist goals. This scholarly work challenges assumptions about the relationship between Nazi Germany and its allies/occupied territories, highlighting the complex interplay between international scientific networks and genocidal ideology. The research provides insights into how academic expertise can be coopted to serve political ends.

Readers describe this academic text as a comprehensive examination of racial science and eugenics programs across Nazi-occupied Europe. Several reviewers note its focus on lesser-known collaborating states like Norway, Slovakia, and Croatia fills an important research gap. Readers appreciated: - Detailed primary source documentation - Coverage of previously unexplored territories and institutions - Clear organization by geographic region Main criticisms: - Dense academic writing style limits accessibility - High price point ($65+) - Some chapters are more thoroughly researched than others Ratings: Goodreads: 4.0/5 (8 ratings) Amazon: 5/5 (2 ratings) One academic reviewer on H-Net praised the book's "meticulous archival research" but noted it "assumes significant background knowledge." A historian on Academia.edu highlighted its value in "documenting the transnational nature of Nazi racial policies" while suggesting more comparative analysis between regions would strengthen the work.

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🔹 Austrian anthropologist Josef Wastl, featured in the book, collected human remains from concentration camps for "racial research" and kept his position at Vienna's Natural History Museum until 1962, highlighting how some Nazi scientists continued their careers post-war. 🔹 The book reveals how racial scientists across occupied Europe actively competed for Nazi funding and recognition, creating a network of institutes dedicated to proving racial theories that extended far beyond Germany's borders. 🔹 During the Nazi occupation, the University of Zagreb established a special "Race Science Institute" that attempted to prove Croats were racially superior to Serbs, demonstrating how local scientists adapted Nazi racial ideology for nationalist purposes. 🔹 Estonian anthropologists used the war as an opportunity to measure thousands of Soviet POWs, creating what they claimed was the largest anthropological database of "Asian racial types" in Europe. 🔹 The book documents how Nazi racial science borrowed heavily from pre-existing eugenics movements in countries like Norway and Sweden, showing that these ideas had broader European roots before Hitler's rise to power.