Social Darwinism: An Ideology for Mass Murder

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Recommended: How racism in Nazi Germany manifested itself

In 1859, a new philosophy promoting the theory of evolution was introduced to the world by Charles Darwin in his book, The Origin of Species. In this work, Darwin espoused humans evolve by struggling through a process of natural selection, rather than by the influence of a divine creator. Darwin’s view of this evolutionary struggle came to be described simply as “survival of the fittest.” Although Darwin cannot be blamed for the Holocaust, overwhelming evidence exists, which identifies Social Darwinism as a major influence behind the Nazi leadership’s effort to exterminate the Jewish race during the Second World War.v

While the title of Darwin’s work is generally recognized as The Origin of Species, its actual title, The Origin of Species of Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, more accurately reflects his racist convictions . Social Darwinism concepts contradicted traditional values of Judeo-Christian religion, which advocated equality of the individual. John Whitehead, noted contributor to the Huffington Post reveals, “By the late 1800s, science had become the new religion, with Darwinism being its central tenet.” Karl Schleunes, author of The Twisted Road to Auschwitz, adds, “. . . the development of Social Darwinism gave to racism and anti-Semitism . . . a foundation it would not have found for itself.” This new scientific religion, along with its racist ideology, would eventually become a major force within the value system of the future Nazi party; one that perhaps may have been absent without the advent of Social Darwinism.

According to the Holocaust Museum, Social Darwinism promotes that “. . . human beings were not one species, but divided into several different ...

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...ocaust of the Second World War.

Works Cited

"Antisemitism in History: Racial Antisemitism, 1875–1945." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Accessed May 15, 2014. http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007171.

Hitler, Adolf. Mein Kampf (Munich: Nsdap, 1943), 316-317.

McMillian, Dan. "Hitler, Darwin And The Holocaust: How The Nazis Distorted The Theory Of Evolution." Salon. Accessed May 16, 2014. http://www.salon.com/2014/04/19/charles_darwins_tragic_error_hitler_evolution_racism_and_the_holocaust/.

Schleunes, Karl. The Twisted Road to Auschwitz: Nazi Policy Toward German Jews, 1933-1939. Reprinted. Urbana, IL: University Of Illinois Press, 1970.

Whitehead, John. "What Did Charles Darwin Really Believe?." Huffington Post. Accessed February 12, 2009. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-w-whitehead/what-did-charles-darwin-r_b_166521.html.

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