M. Walker

By this author

Science under National Socialism (translation by I. A. Belozerova, afterword by E. I. Kolchinskii)

Issue 1 from 01.03.2001

This article examines the character of scientific development in Germany from 1933 through 1945 in order to answer some fundamental questions about the relationships between science and ideology. What effect could an extreme, irrational, and sometimes murderous political ideology like National Socialism have on science? Docs It make sense to speak of a peculiarly “Nazi science?”

Franz Neumann s model of the National Socialist state as a “Behemoth” is adapted to provide a conceptual framework, including in particular technocracy. The article goes on to examine the following themes: “The Purge”; “National Socialist Scientific Institutions”; “The Rise and Fall of Aryan Science ; “Race Hygiene and Genocide”; “Science and War”; and finally Science and Ideology under National Socialism.”Analyzing the behavior of many prominent German scientists under Hitler, the article demonstrates that the majority of scientists worked with the National Socialist regime, and concludes with examinations of how and why this happened.

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