The Nazi connection

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When Hitler published Mein Kampf in 1924, he cited the U.S. Immigration Restriction Act as a model for his racial purification agenda, which barred immigration based on hereditary illnesses and ethnicity. After the Nazis rose to power in 1933, they implemented a eugenics program that mirrored American practices, including forced sterilization and marriage controls. Many American states had already enacted compulsory sterilization laws for "defectives," upheld by the Supreme Court in 1927. This prompted a Virginia eugenics activist to lament, "The Germans are beating us at our own game." In this work, Stefan Kuhl explores the connections between the American eugenics movement and Nazi racial hygiene policies, revealing that numerous American scientists supported Hitler's agenda. He details the history of eugenics in the U.S. and abroad, illustrating how sterilization as a means of genetic control gained acceptance by the early twentieth century. American eugenicists pioneered radical ideas, influencing sterilization laws across many states, which German racial hygienists studied closely. With Hitler's ascent, Germany adopted compulsory sterilization laws inspired by U.S. practices, and American eugenicists took pride in their impact on Nazi policies. Kuhl recounts American eugenicists visiting Germany to study these laws and publishing works that praised Nazi eugenics. Even during the war, they criticized Hitler's totalitariani