In 1935, Heinrich Himmler, leader of the Schutzstaffel (SS), founded “das Ahnenerbe”. This think tank, which translated to “inheritance of the forefathers”, was tasked with researching Aryan cultural history and characteristics as to prove that the Germans were descendants of a god- like advanced race.
Not only did Himmler hope the research would prove Hitler’s ideas about the Germans being the master race, he also expected ancient secrets about agriculture, medicine, and warfare would be discovered, which would be used in the expansion of the Third Reich. Although the research started small, Himmler’s fanatism soon caused the Ahnenerbe to grow into an organization that had fifty branches and included archaeology, history, botany, biology, ethnology, astronomy and medicine.
It was believed that the Aryan race originated in Atlantis, and that groups of survivors of the cataclysm spread throughout the earth. Evidence for this was found in similar symbols found all over the globe. After initial expeditions and excavations throughout Germany, Ahnenerbe teams soon left for expeditions in Eastern Europe, North Africa and South America. Some of these trips were about locating legendary items such as the Holy Grail.
As artifacts and ruins were found all over the globe, no effort or cost was spared to “prove” a Germanic origins of civilization. Artifacts found in countries occupied by “lower races” were used as a justification to invade and conquer the area, because they “clearly” showed the land had originally belonged to the Aryan race.
Convinced that the Himalayas were the roof of the world, and therefore a logical place for the Atlantean Aryans to have picked, the Germans sent one research to Tibet. Here, they took a close look at the physical and mental characteristics of the local population. The Germans concluded that although the Tibetan nobility had clear Aryan characteristics, religion had weakened the once pure society. This was all the more reason for Himmler to continue dreaming of a new, Aryan religion to replace Christianity, which was of Semetic origin.
The research was also used to fuel and justify the Holocaust: untermenschen had diluted the Aryan people, and it was up to Germany to purify the race again. Himmler even he set up the SS Witches Division in an effort to prove that Aryan women had been prosecuted at the hands of Jews and Catholics.
Human experiments were conducted and “test subjects” were taken from the many death camps across the Third Reich. One attempt revolved around creating an anthropological display that showed the racial inferiority of the “Jewish race”. All in all, the SS rounded up 115 (living) people, most of which were Jews, to create the “Jewish skeleton collection”.
Himmler never succeeded in proving the superiority of the Aryan race. Irrefutable evidence was never found and the Allies liberated Europe before the Ahnenerbe research was concluded. Most of the academics who had taken part in the endeavor never appeared in court. Instead, they continued the professions they had had before the war.
Hitler never shared Himmler’s fanatic belief. In fact, he felt that the SS efforts only proved that while the German forefathers were still living in clay huts, the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans had built entire cities.
Sources:
留言