A Nazi propaganda poster illustrating the supposedly biological causes of criminal and "asocial" behavior. [LCID: 80953]
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Genealogical chart of an allegedly "asocial" individual

Glass slide showing the genealogy of an “asocial” person. The chart is color-coded to claim that the blue figure at the bottom comes from a long line of supposedly asocial people. The legend on the left side of the image explains the different figures. The reddish-pink figures mark people who supposedly have the traits of a crook (Gaunereigenschaften). Yellow figures indicate people who supposedly have the traits of vagabonds and beggars (Vagabunden-Bettlereigenschaften). Green indicates people who are supposedly congenitally feebleminded (angeborener Schwachsinn). Blue indicates people who are supposedly disposed to vagrancy as a result of congenital feeblemindedness (Vagabundeneinschlag, bemerkbar bei Schwachsinn). The text beneath each figure notes their job and year of birth. 

The slide states that the data comes from a study published by Robert Ritter in Leipzig in 1937. Ritter was one of many scientists who supported Nazi Germany's racial and ideological goals. He had adopted a Nazi definition of crime in his work.


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  • US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of University of Muenster
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