(Note: I originally published this on my substack, but have made small edits to this version)

In the shadowy corridors of history, where the tendrils of the past intersect with the horrors of the present, one finds a haunting connection between the United States and Nazi Germany that reverberates with profound implications.

The emergence of the Nuremberg Laws in Nazi Germany, which laid the foundation for the Holocaust and the most heinous crimes against humanity, cannot be fully understood without acknowledging the role that American laws and the deeply unsettling ideologies of eugenics and scientific racism played in shaping the trajectory of historical events.

The law, often regarded as a beacon of justice and equality, is a complex and multifaceted system that governs societies around the world. It is designed to provide a framework for maintaining order, resolving disputes, and upholding the rights and freedoms of individuals. However, throughout history and even in contemporary society, the law has frequently been manipulated and exploited as a tool by those in power to further their own agendas and maintain systems of oppression.

The Nuremberg Laws, marked a significant turning point in the history of human rights violations. These laws did not emerge in isolation. Instead, their inspiration found expression within existing discriminatory practices, including those found in the United States.

The Nuremberg Laws were introduced at the Nazi Party's annual rally in Nuremberg on September 15, 1935. These laws consisted of two primary pieces of legislation: the Reich Citizenship Law and the Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor.

Reich Citizenship Law:

• This law deprived Jews of their German citizenship.
• It declared that only those of "German or related blood" could be citizens.
• Jews were categorized as "subjects" of the state rather than citizens.
• The law aimed to legally isolate Jews, stripping them of their political rights.
• Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor:
• This law prohibited marriages and sexual relationships between Jews and Germans.
• It imposed severe penalties for violating these provisions.

The Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor targeted mixed-race marriages and relationships, much like the anti-miscegenation laws in some U.S. states. By prohibiting sexual relations and marriages between Jews and non-Jews, the Nazis aimed to maintain the purity of the Aryan race. It also prohibited the employment of female German domestic servants under the age of 45 in Jewish households.

The Influence of the US Eugenics and Scientific Racism

The racial theories that underpinned the Nuremberg Laws were influenced by pseudo-scientific ideas that claimed to establish the superiority of the Aryan race and the inferiority of other racial groups, particularly Jews.

The American eugenics movement gained momentum in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, spurred on by the work of figures like Francis Galton. Eugenics, from the Greek words "eu" (good) and "genes" (born), was the idea that selective breeding of humans could improve the genetic quality of the population. Proponents believed that undesirable traits could be eradicated by encouraging the reproduction of those with favorable traits and discouraging or preventing those with undesirable traits from having children. This ideological current found expression in the halls of academia, with prominent figures like Charles Davenport and Harry Laughlin promoting policies for the sterilization of individuals deemed unfit for reproduction.

It is chilling to realize that this movement received legal validation through the Supreme Court's infamous Buck v. Bell decision in 1927, which upheld the forced sterilization of a young woman, Carrie Buck, on the grounds of her alleged "feeble-mindedness." This verdict set a dangerous precedent, effectively legitimizing state-sanctioned eugenics and paving the way for the horrors that would later unfold in Nazi Germany.

Furthermore, the United States was also home to prominent proponents of scientific racism, such as Madison Grant, who authored "The Passing of the Great Race" in 1916. Grant's work argued for the preservation of a perceived Aryan "master race" and the segregation and subjugation of those he considered "lesser races." Hitler's notion of Aryan supremacy and his vision of racial purity were deeply informed by the American eugenics and scientific racism movements, which laid the intellectual groundwork for the Nuremberg Laws.

The Nuremberg Laws were designed to institutionalize discrimination and persecution against Jews in Nazi Germany. These laws stripped Jews of their citizenship, prohibited intermarriage with non-Jews, and imposed a host of other degrading restrictions. The genesis of these laws was undoubtedly influenced by the American eugenics and Scientific Racism movements and its legal manifestations, serving as a stark example of how deeply interconnected the two nations were in their pursuit of racial purity.

The connection between the United States and Nazi Germany, while deeply unsettling and painful to acknowledge, cannot be denied. The legacy of American laws and ideologies that championed eugenics and scientific racism reverberated across the Atlantic, ultimately finding a chilling resonance in the Nuremberg Laws. Recognizing this haunting connection underscores the importance of vigilance against the toxic ideologies that can lead to such grievous human atrocities and serves as a somber reminder of the enduring responsibility to protect the fundamental principles of human rights and dignity.

Recommended reading - Hitler’s American Model: The United States and the Making of Nazi Race Law
by James Q. Whitman
Princeton University Press, 2017