Race and heredity
Creator(s)
- Bundesarchiv (Germany). Filmarchiv
- Excentric Film Zorn and Tiller GmbH, Berlin (Producer)
Scope and Content
A Nazi educational film (propaganda) regarding questions of race and heredity of national/political value. [Aufklaerungsfilm ueber Rasse- und Vererbungsfragen / Praedikat: staatspolitsch wertvoll] Title on film: Kulturfilm-Abteilung Atelier 2. Woman calls on professor to show him what the beetles are doing. Additional colleagues join; a cameraman films them. Professor explains beetles' behavior - woman should not be sentimental. The weak are naturally destroyed. He finds it odd if cats and mice (and other pairs) live together. The professor takes a phone call. They watch a film about sunflowers. What do sunflowers have to do with life? Massive number of seeds, some always remain to ensure further growth. Roses and thorns. 750,000 eggs from one fish...dog...rabbit. German shepherd chasing rabbit. Cat eating a bird. Cockfight. Bird mothers do three things instinctively. The woman says, laughing: "Dann treiben die Tiere also eine...Rassenpolitik." [So, animals have their own...racial politics.] Man replies, Yes, in a way. "Reingehalten." Horses = "ganz Zielbewusst" [goal-oriented], breeding for speed or working strength. A dog for water-hunting requires certain attributes. Hunde = Stammbaum [dogs lineage] They continue to discuss as they watch film. Title: "Nachkommen des Leutnants Kallikak" [Descendants of Lt. Kallikak.] Family tree graphic showing two marriages, one with "erbgesunde Frau" and one with "erbkranke Frau." The white, healthy woman had 493 healthy descendants. The "sick" woman had 434 feebleminded descendants. Still photos of "minderwertig leute" [unworthy people] in Germany. Title: Hitler quote: "Wer koerperlich und geistig nicht gesund und wuerdig ist, darf sein Leid nicht im Koerper seines Kindes verewigen." Title: Gesetz zur Verhuetung erbkranken Nachwuchses [The Law for Prevention of Hereditary Illness in future generations]. Marching scenes of Hitler Youth, BDM, RAD, SS. Healthy bodies, girls on field, montage of blond, Aryan models. Die Zukunft des Volkes [The future of the race]. Hitler Youth meeting. Outdoor meals. Family with six children, giving Nazi salute as if troops were passing their house and picket fence.
Note(s)
Other credits: Filmscript: Walter Lueddecke; Spielleitung: C. Hartmann; Music: Fritz Wenneis See photocopied pp. 232-233 from Reichsfilmarchiv book for more detailed quotes in German, with longer descriptions of scenes and their racial science significance. See Story 3688, Film ID 2617A for duplicate footage.
Conditions of Use and/or Copyright updated. Correspondence from Bundesarchiv in May 2023, initially sent to Leslie Swift states: no rights claimed anymore by Bundesarchiv, but we don't know who the rights holders might be
Subjects
- SCIENTISTS
- HITLER YOUTH
- FAMILIES
- DOGS
- BDM (LEAGUE OF GERMAN GIRLS)
- CHILDREN
- RACE
- SS (SCHUTZSTAFFEL)
- MENTALLY ILL
- PROPAGANDA (NAZI)
- RACIAL SCIENCE
- WOMEN
- EATING
- PROPAGANDA
- EUGENICS
- RAD (GERMAN LABOR SERVICE)
- GERMANY
- GERMANS
Places
- , Germany
Genre
- Instructional.
- Film
Copies
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United States Holocaust Memorial Museum holds copies of Holocaust-relevant archives from Bundesarchiv, Berlin-Lichterfelde (Abteilung Filmarchiv)