In Search of 'Aryan Blood' : Serology in Interwar and National Socialist Germany

Explores the course of development of German seroanthropology from its origins in World War I until the end of the Third Reich. Gives an all encompassing interpretation of how the discovery of blood groups in around 1900 galvanised not only old mythologies of blood and origin but also new developments in anthropology and eugenics in the 1920s and 1930s. Boaz portrays how the personal motivations of blood scientists influenced their professional research, ultimately demonstrating how conceptually indeterminate and politically volatile the science of race was under the Nazi regime. Explores the course of development of German seroanthropology from its origins in World War I until the end of the Third Reich. Gives an all encompassing interpretation of how the discovery of blood groups in around 1900 galvanised not only old mythologies of blood and origin but also new developments in anthropology and eugenics in the 1920s and 1930s. Boaz portrays how the personal motivations of blood scientists influenced their professional research, ultimately demonstrating how conceptually indeterminate and politically volatile the science of race was under the Nazi regime. Contrary to sustained efforts, the search for the "Aryan" blood did not materialize into the racial utopia that the Nazi officials had dreamed. Moreover, the monograph convincingly demonstrates how ambiguous the relationship between eugenics, seroanthropology and anti-Semitism was in Germany, not least because proeminent German eugenicists and race scientists were Jewish or of Jewish origin Contents List of Figures ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS INTRODUCTION CHAPTER I. THE EMERGENCE OF BLOOD SCIENCE CHAPTER II. Seroanthropology in the Early 1920s: BLOOD, RACE, AND EUGENICS CHAPTER III. ORGANIZING Seroanthropology: The ESTABLISHMENT OF THE GERMAN INSTITUTE FOR BLOOD GROUP RESEARCH CHAPTER IV. Seroanthropology at its Height: Distinguishing those with "Pure blood" CHAPTER V. The Jew as Examiner and Examined CHAPTER VI. BLOOD as Metaphor and Science in the Nuremberg Race Laws CHAPTER VII. The Pedagogy and Practice of Seroanthropology During World War II Conclusion Index of Names