What do you actually know about the original Nazis? A special invitation to DUers who have stars.

[Boojatta]

Post your thoughts in this thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=277x423

Those who lack stars may use the link to read. They can't post there, but they can post here.

I especially encourage participation from those who have a DU posting history that includes making comparisons of this or that with Nazi policy. Why share your wisdom in scattered bursts when you can put it all in one location that is clearly labeled?

[aquart]

1. Thank you so much for your instructions.

They are neither encouraged nor necessary.

[Boojatta]

2. Do my instructions remind you of instructions that Hitler gave?

[iamahaingttta]

3. No thanks!

Have fun over there, on your other thread...

[Boojatta]

4. What motivated you to use an exclamation point?

I would think that there are enough references to Nazis on DU to justify some slight interest in actual historical inquiry.

[whistle]

5. One can actually go to a period predating Nazi Germany to an American Henry Goddard (1866-1957)

...who was a Quaker and an educational sociologist whose scientific research studies influenced educational policies in this country for much of the 20th century. The U.S. eugenics movement based much of their policies on Goddard's work and the Nazis early on adapted Goddard's conclusions to their selection methods for selecting out and sterilizing and even exterminating the mentally retarded and feeble minded from the general population to accomplish the German super-being.

<snip>
The Kallikak Family Study

Goddard's other major contribution was his study of feeble-mindedness. Goddard's field-based research resulted in many publications, with the best known being The Kallikak Family: A Study in the Heredity of Feeble-Mindedness (1912). Although Goddard and his assistants studied hundreds of families, the Kallikak family remains the most famous. The family was that of a Vineland student, Deborah. The name Kallikak is actually a pseudonym created from the Greek words kallos (beauty) and kakos (bad). The Kallikak family was divided into two branches–one "good" and one "bad,"–both of which originated from Deborah's great-great-great grandfather, Martin Kallikak. When Kallikak was a young soldier, he had a liaison with an "unnamed, feeble-minded tavern girl." This tryst resulted in the birth of an illegitimate son, Martin Kallikak Jr., from whom the bad branch of the family descended. Later in his life, Martin Kallikak Sr. married a Quaker woman from a good family. The good branch descended from this marriage.

Goddard's genealogical research revealed that the union with the feeble-minded girl resulted in generations plagued by feeble-mindedness, illegitimacy, prostitution, alcoholism, and lechery. The marriage of Martin Kallikak Sr. to the Quaker woman yielded generations of normal, accomplished offspring. Goddard believed that the remarkable difference separating the two branches of the family was due entirely to the different hereditary influences from the two women involved with the senior Kallikak.

Goddard's work had a powerful effect. Scholars were generally impressed by the magnitude of the study, and The Kallikak Family became very popular. Critical reaction in the popular press was positive, with more muted reaction within the scientific community. For example, James McKeen Cattell praised the contribution and conclusions but criticized the research design. The Kallikak study was a powerful ally to eugenicist movements, including that of the Nazi party, and contributed to the atmosphere in which compulsory sterilization laws were passed in many states.

<MORE>
http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2011/Goddard-Henry-H-1866-1957.html

So, "Amerika" was playing around with this idea of genetic superiority and racism long before the Nazis every came into the picture. Much of it has been discredited by real scientific research and long term examination.

I really don't get the point of the OP.

[Boojatta]

6. Why not cut and paste a copy of that to the thread in the World History forum?

(You have a star.) The World History forum doesn't move as fast as GD, so the thread will remain visible and easily accessible. Also, the thread over there won't be archived for a long time. So people will have plenty of time to ask you questions or make comments.