Biology and the Nation in Germany

Abstract

THE administrative appreciation of the biological outlook in national development is nowhere so evident to-day as in Germany and Soviet Russia. A brief account of the current exhibition in Berlin on “Das Wunder des Lebens”, which crystallises the use and abuse of biology by the third Reich, may therefore have some general interest. The policy on which it is based was outlined by Dr. Frick, Reichs-minister of the Interior, in his inaugural speech on March 23. Unlike the ‘liberalistisch-marxistichen’ regime, he said, National Socialism views the individual as an inseparable part of the family, and the family as the basis of the nation. The individual therefore has increased duties to the State, but receives in return more rights, more protection, and the immediate promise of a happier and healthier life, secured through education, eugenic legislation and social assistance by the State. It is significant that he did not take a narrow national view of these activities. Indeed, he hoped that the Exhibition would be regarded as a renewed token of international friendship, and expressed the belief that the German people are anxious to work in a spirit of amiable co-operation not only for themselves but also for the growth of a healthy Europe.