Overview
- Brief Narrative
- Spreading calipers, for measuring heads, from a set of anthropometry instruments used as part of eugenics studies conducted in Nazi-controlled Germany from 1933 to 1945. Anthropometry is a branch of Anthropology that focuses on how to systematically identify and classify a range of physical characteristics found within different populations of people. This methodological approach was well-suited to the rising emphasis on eugenics, often referred to as racial hygiene, in Germany during the 1920s and 1930s. Many supporters linked eugenics to race, and believed that “race mixing,” modern medicine, keeping the “unfit” alive to reproduce, and costly welfare programs hindered natural selection and would lead to the biological “degeneration” of society. These ideas and practices began to inform government policy, and were absorbed into the ideology and platform of the newly formed Nazi Party during the 1920s. Following Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor in January 1933, a politically extreme, antisemitic variation of eugenics shaped Nazi policies and permeated German society and institutions. These policies touted the “Nordic race” as its eugenic ideal, and made efforts to exclude anyone deemed hereditarily “less valuable” or “racially foreign,” including Jews, “Slavs, Roma (gypsies), and blacks.” Racial hygiene studies assigned individuals to state-defined races, ranked from “superior” to “inferior,” based on family genealogies, anthropometric measurements, and intelligence tests. Many German physicians and scientists, who had supported racial hygiene ideas before 1933, embraced the Nazi emphasis on biology and heredity, in order to take advantage of new career opportunities and additional funding for research.
- Date
-
use:
approximately 1933-1945
- Geography
-
use:
Germany
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of the Institut für Humangenetik der Universität Göttingen
- Markings
- left and right arms, upper interior sides, engraved : 4
Physical Details
- Classification
-
Tools and Equipment
- Category
-
Measuring instruments
- Object Type
-
Outside calipers (aat)
- Genre/Form
- Equipment.
- Physical Description
- Silver-colored metal spreading calipers with two long, narrow, rectangular arms with upper halves that angle outward before curving in to meet at the top. The upper end of each arm is tipped with a small, smooth ball. The arms extend out from a flat, central, V-shaped pivot point secured with a bolt. A thin, flat, rectangular beam with a scale is anchored to the left arm, just above the angled segment. The 30-centimeter scale is engraved on the face and oriented towards the pivot point, with even numbers along the top edge, and odd ones along the bottom. The horizontally-aligned beam rests across the surface of both arms, extending beyond the right arm. It passes through an open-ended rectangular frame, which is screwed to the right arm. The scale is visible within the frame as it moves, and the measurement is indicated by a thin, perpendicular segment of metal anchored between the frame’s sides at one end. There is a small locking screw with a knurled edge centered on the back of the frame. On the inside of the arms are small, engraved numbers, and an off-white substance adhered to them. The calipers are part of a set of anthropological tools including, sliding calipers (.1.2), a grease pencil (.1.3), and a pencil (.1.4), all stored in a carrying case (.1).
- Dimensions
- overall: Height: 10.750 inches (27.305 cm) | Width: 10.000 inches (25.4 cm) | Depth: 0.625 inches (1.588 cm)
- Materials
- overall : metal
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- No restrictions on access
- Conditions on Use
- No restrictions on use
Keywords & Subjects
- Topical Term
- Eugenics--Germany--History--20th century. Eugenics--History. National socialism and medicine. Science and state--Germany. Human experimentation in medicine--Germany--History--20th century. National socialism and science--Germany. Anthropometry--Germany. Physicians--Germany. Racism--Germany--History--20th century. Genetics.
- Geographic Name
- Germany.
Administrative Notes
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- The calipers were donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1990 by the Institut für Humangenetik der Universität Göttingen.
- Record last modified:
- 2023-06-14 07:08:01
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn3373
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Also in Institut für Humangenetik der Universität Göttingen collection
The collection consists of a medical case containing two calipers and two pencils used as part of anthropological race studies during the eugenics movement in Germany before the Holocaust.
Date: approximately 1900-1945
Custom carrying case containing anthropometry instruments used in Nazi Germany
Object
Carrying case for a set of anthropometry instruments used to measure body parts as part of eugenics studies conducted in Nazi-controlled Germany from 1933 to 1945. Anthropometry is a branch of Anthropology that focuses on how to systematically identify and classify a range of physical characteristics found within different populations of people. This methodological approach was well-suited to the rising emphasis on eugenics, often referred to as racial hygiene, in Germany during the 1920s and 1930s. Many supporters linked eugenics to race, and believed that “race mixing,” modern medicine, keeping the “unfit” alive to reproduce, and costly welfare programs hindered natural selection and would lead to the biological “degeneration” of society. These ideas and practices began to inform government policy, and were absorbed into the ideology and platform of the newly formed Nazi Party during the 1920s. Following Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor in January 1933, a politically extreme, antisemitic variation of eugenics shaped Nazi policies and permeated German society and institutions. These policies touted the “Nordic race” as its eugenic ideal, and made efforts to exclude anyone deemed hereditarily “less valuable” or “racially foreign,” including Jews, “Slavs, Roma (gypsies), and blacks.” Racial hygiene studies assigned individuals to state-defined races, ranked from “superior” to “inferior,” based on family genealogies, anthropometric measurements, and intelligence tests. Many German physicians and scientists, who had supported racial hygiene ideas before 1933, embraced the Nazi emphasis on biology and heredity, in order to take advantage of new career opportunities and additional funding for research.
Faber dermatograph pencil from a carrying case containing anthropometry instruments used in Nazi Germany
Object
Faber-Castell grease pencil for noting measurements on skin, from a set of anthropometry instruments used as part of eugenics studies conducted in Nazi-controlled Germany from 1933 to 1945. Anthropometry is a branch of Anthropology that focuses on how to systematically identify and classify a range of physical characteristics found within different populations of people. This methodological approach was well-suited to the rising emphasis on eugenics, often referred to as racial hygiene, in Germany during the 1920s and 1930s. Many supporters linked eugenics to race, and believed that “race mixing,” modern medicine, keeping the “unfit” alive to reproduce, and costly welfare programs hindered natural selection and would lead to the biological “degeneration” of society. These ideas and practices began to inform government policy, and were absorbed into the ideology and platform of the newly formed Nazi Party during the 1920s. Following Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor in January 1933, a politically extreme, antisemitic variation of eugenics shaped Nazi policies and permeated German society and institutions. These policies touted the “Nordic race” as its eugenic ideal, and made efforts to exclude anyone deemed hereditarily “less valuable” or “racially foreign,” including Jews, “Slavs, Roma (gypsies), and blacks.” Racial hygiene studies assigned individuals to state-defined races, ranked from “superior” to “inferior,” based on family genealogies, anthropometric measurements, and intelligence tests. Many German physicians and scientists, who had supported racial hygiene ideas before 1933, embraced the Nazi emphasis on biology and heredity, in order to take advantage of new career opportunities and additional funding for research.
Staedtler pencil from a carrying case containing anthropometry instruments used in Nazi Germany
Object
Staedtler pencil for recording measurements, from a set of anthropometry instruments used as part of eugenics studies conducted in Nazi-controlled Germany from 1933 to 1945. Anthropometry is a branch of Anthropology that focuses on how to systematically identify and classify a range of physical characteristics found within different populations of people. This methodological approach was well-suited to the rising emphasis on eugenics, often referred to as racial hygiene, in Germany during the 1920s and 1930s. Many supporters linked eugenics to race, and believed that “race mixing,” modern medicine, keeping the “unfit” alive to reproduce, and costly welfare programs hindered natural selection and would lead to the biological “degeneration” of society. These ideas and practices began to inform government policy, and were absorbed into the ideology and platform of the newly formed Nazi Party during the 1920s. Following Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor in January 1933, a politically extreme, antisemitic variation of eugenics shaped Nazi policies and permeated German society and institutions. These policies touted the “Nordic race” as its eugenic ideal, and made efforts to exclude anyone deemed hereditarily “less valuable” or “racially foreign,” including Jews, “Slavs, Roma (gypsies), and blacks.” Racial hygiene studies assigned individuals to state-defined races, ranked from “superior” to “inferior,” based on family genealogies, anthropometric measurements, and intelligence tests. Many German physicians and scientists, who had supported racial hygiene ideas before 1933, embraced the Nazi emphasis on biology and heredity, in order to take advantage of new career opportunities and additional funding for research.
Sliding calipers from a carrying case containing anthropometry instruments used in Nazi Germany
Object
Abawerke sliding calipers for measuring noses and ears, from a set of anthropometry instruments used as part of eugenics studies conducted in Nazi-controlled Germany from 1933 to 1945. Anthropometry is a branch of Anthropology that focuses on how to systematically identify and classify a range of physical characteristics found within different populations of people. This methodological approach was well-suited to the rising emphasis on eugenics, often referred to as racial hygiene, in Germany during the 1920s and 1930s. Many supporters linked eugenics to race, and believed that “race mixing,” modern medicine, keeping the “unfit” alive to reproduce, and costly welfare programs hindered natural selection and would lead to the biological “degeneration” of society. These ideas and practices began to inform government policy, and were absorbed into the ideology and platform of the newly formed Nazi Party during the 1920s. Following Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor in January 1933, a politically extreme, antisemitic variation of eugenics shaped Nazi policies and permeated German society and institutions. These policies touted the “Nordic race” as its eugenic ideal, and made efforts to exclude anyone deemed hereditarily “less valuable” or “racially foreign,” including Jews, “Slavs, Roma (gypsies), and blacks.” Racial hygiene studies assigned individuals to state-defined races, ranked from “superior” to “inferior,” based on family genealogies, anthropometric measurements, and intelligence tests. Many German physicians and scientists, who had supported racial hygiene ideas before 1933, embraced the Nazi emphasis on biology and heredity, in order to take advantage of new career opportunities and additional funding for research.
