The German Races

From the Handbook for Schooling the Hitler Youth

Chapter Two: The German Races (for Chapter One, see here)

Introduction: The material in the following Handbook series comes from a booklet of material assembled specificially for Hitler Youth leaders. It was arranged by Fritz Bennecke (ed.) into a book titled Vom deutschen Volk und seinem Lebensraum. Handbuch für die Schulung in der HJ, ("The German people and their habitat. Manual for the training in the HJ", Munich: Franz Eher, 1937). Paul Gierlichs is listed as Bearbeiter. 

This was translated to be printed and sold in England. For this English language volume, the title was inexplicably changed to "The Nazi Primer," a book that can be purchased from most book sellers today.

Chapter One titled The Unlikeness of Men, more of an introduction, can be found in my previous post here.  The word men at the time represented both males and females – no gender-political correctness then. It emphasized the fourth point of the NSDAP program: Only those who are comrades of our folk can be citizens of the state. Only those who are of German blood, irrespective of religious belief, can be comrades of our folk. Consequently no Jews can be comrades of our folk. -cy

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THIS MUCH LONGER CHAPTER  (two) gives the students an overview of the various “races” that make up the German people – their people. There are six distinct groups described, ranging from the 'Nordic,' the largest which makes up approximately 50% of the population, to the 'Western' making up only 2%. In between, from greater to lesser, are the 'Eastern', the 'Dinaric', the 'East Baltic' and the 'Phalic.'

From Hans F. K. Gunther's (pictured left) book Rassenkunde des deutschen Volkes (1933), it is quoted:

A race is a collection of individuals differentiated from every other group by its unique combination of bodily characteristics and soul attributes and continually reproduces its own kind.

The students were taught that pure races of people scarcely exist today. Individuals have everywhere intermingled. Many people in Europe have preserved above all the Nordic character; others the Western, or Eastern, or East Baltic and so forth. Since man is body, mind and soul, the mental and spiritual characteristics are considered along with physical structure.

Geographical distribution of races in the German Reich

According to Gunther, who was the leading racial theorist for the Third Reich, Nordics are found in Germany and in large sections of the lands of northern Europe, in Scotland, Denmark, on the Baltic coast, in Sweden and Norway.

They are tall, an average 1.75 meters for the matured man, and slender, with large limbs in proportion to the body. The Nordic skull is long and narrow, the face small, the nose high set and small relative to the rest of the face. The skin is rosy-white and delicate, the light-colored hair is smooth, wavy, thin and fine. Sexual maturity comes relatively late, as does the onset of old age.

The Nordic is distinguishable from other “races” even to the structure and size of the brain and bodily glands. He is uncommonly gifted mentally, outstanding in truthfulness and energy, and power of judgment. Nordics are inclined to be taciturn and cautious, to dislike loudness, are persistent in sticking to a project when once set upon it. They are natural leaders.

The Nordic “race” is most closely associated with the Phalic, which make up only 5% of the German population. They are commonly found in Westphalia, from whence derives the name, but also in Swabia and Wuerttemberg. They surpass the Nordic in height and breadth, acting generally more forcefully. The skull is broader but just as long, the nose broader, the skin the same rosy-white, hair blond with sometimes a tinge of reddish, wavy or even curly.

As to soul qualities, the two are very similar, with the Phalic type less emotional, less fool-hardy, more good-natured and cordial, patient, and governed by a strong feeling of loyalty. These two are more related to one another than to any of the other four German “races.”

The Western and Dinaric racial groups

What's named by Gunther as the Western “race” (also called Mediterranean) is not only the smallest in Germany, amounting to only 2% of total, but hardly occurs in it's pure form. It's found principally in the Rhineland, and in England, France and the Pyrenees. The Western is slender like the Nordic but not as tall, averaging only 1.61 meters, with the same long skull and small face, but the skin is tinted with a light brown. The hair is smooth and fine, sometimes curly, colored dark brown to black, with brown eyes. As to soul qualities, they have less patience and steadiness than the other two; are excitable, even passionate; given to act more by feeling than by reason. They are more talkative and lively, mentally agile but with less creative power. They've produced only a few outstanding men.

The Dinaric group, about 15% of the German population, is found mainly in the South and Southwest, and in central Germany. Outside the Reich, they are in England, in the eastern Alpine lands (their name comes from the Dinaric Alps) and in the Balkans as far as Ukraine. Tall and slender, average 1.74 meters, their skull is shorter, especially in the back. The nose is high and fairly large, the skin slightly brownish, the hair fine, brownish-black to black, and more abundant on the body than the other German groups. The eyes are also dark.

The Dinaric has some outstanding attributes of mind and soul. He is proud and brave, a good warrior with great love for his homeland. He has more creative ability than the Eastern man, but is more subject to his moods than the Nordic. He is noisier and more loquacious, and exhibits a great gift for music.

The Eastern (2nd largest) and East Baltic

The Eastern (or Alpine) race group makes up 20% of Germans, second only to the Nordic, but most unlike the Nordic. His average height is only 1.63 meters, is more thick-set, compact and clumsy. He reaches sexual maturity early and also reaches old age earlier. His skull is short, wide-faced and rounded, the nose is set lower, the skin more yellowish, not as delicate as the Nordic's. The hair is thicker and tighter, brown to black; eyes brown. In spiritual attitude, the Eastern men are courageous but not rash and bold. They are unwarlike, more inclined to craftiness. Gunther says they make compliant and submissive subjects, never the leaders.

Finally, the East Baltic type, making up about 8%, is on average only 1.64 meters tall but large boned, with great shoulder breadth, and is more energetic than the Eastern man. He seems to mature rather late but still begins to age early. His skull is short and wide-faced, it is however bonier and more angular than the Easterner. The nose is set low and is rather broad. The skin is light, with a grey-yellow tinge. The hair is thick and coarse, blonde; the eyes can be grey, blue-grey to water blue. These men are not leaders by nature, but need leadership. They are cautious, seldom resolute for lack of real power of decision in conflicts. Creatively, they are best in the field of music.

In summation, the Nordic is the most widely represented “race” in Germany. But this is not to say that half of our people are pure Nordic. All the above mentioned “races” appear in mixtures in all parts of our fatherland. “The circumstance, however, that the great part of our people is of Nordic descent justifies us in taking a Nordic standpoint when evaluating character and spirit, bodily structure and physical beauty. It also gives us the right to shape our legislation and to fashion our state according to the outlook on life of the Nordic man.”

My comment

I note that there is no mention of 'supremacy,' of 'overman' or 'underman' or 'superman.' It is all written in a modest, reality-based style. We do find the standard of leadership being foremost in consideration of value, which is understandable since the main purpose of the Hitler Youth was to prepare leaders for the future Reich.

There is full acknowledgement that these six racial types are intermixed in the German population--thus there is no status attached to one type of German over another, one locale over another. Loyalty and leadership appear to be given the most attention, along with creativity. Wherever those qualities appear in the youth, both male and female, they are given opportunities for further development through responsibility. Nothing could be more fair, populist and productive of success.

Could we use some of that today?