The Scientific Origins of National Socialism

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Is there a link between Darwin and Hitler? Yes, and the key to understanding this link is to examine Haeckel’s 'scientific' Darwinism, and his movement, the German Monist League, which were proto-Nazi in character. Contrary to popular belief, Haeckel’s type of social Darwinism actually played a critical role in the formation of Nazi ideology. In layman's language, Hitler's concentration camps were based on the 'science' of evolution. (Darwin felt that Haeckel's embryo drawings were conclusive evidence that evolution was right and the Bible was wrong).

"[A] very well-argued thesis…that is completely successful…and leaves the reader to extract his own moral lessons" - Times Literary Supplement.

"[Gasman's] book is essential for understanding modern Germany. It has a general message derived from the events in Germany, where scientific data were permitted to take on a mystical signficiance…with ghastly consequences" - Medical History.

"Brilliant" - New York Review of Books.

Daniel Gasman is professor of history at John Jay College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. In 1987 he lectured at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris as a directeur d’études. He is also the author of Haeckel’s Monism and the Birth of Fascist Ideology. His briefer writings have appeared in the American Historical Review and Central European History.