Die Raſſen des deutschen Volkes Von Prof. Dr. V. Reche Direktor des Institutes für Rassen- und Völkerkunde an der Universität Leipzig Zugleich Erläuterung zu den Wandtafeln Bilder deutscher Rassen" - "The Races of the German People by Prof. Dr. V. Reche Director of the Institute for Race and Ethnology at the University of Leipzig. Along with an explanation of the wall charts "Pictures of German Races". A racial studies guide for the teacher in the German school, accompanied by plates of pictures with many examples of the facial shape characteristic of the Aryan race and its sub-races. The pictures of the figures appearing here appeared in the classrooms of schools in Nazi Germany, along with the explanations accompanying them, and they were intended to help the teacher illustrate Nazi race theory to the students. Leipzig, 1933.
In the introduction to the book it is written: " In the new German state, in ethnic Germany, racial science and racial care are finally getting their rightful place; they constitute one of the main foundations and are meant to help secure the future of the people and culture. This requires the dissemination of racial knowledge, a task that schools of all levels in particular should take upon themselves. However, for the time being, suitable teaching materials are still lacking, especially visual aids. All kinds of books, in large format, are available and they also contain a wealth of pictorial material; but they cannot be given to each individual student all the time...". For this purpose, the author created large pictures of examples of the facial features of the race which: "can easily be seen in large classrooms even from the back seats. It is undoubtedly desirable to leave the pictures hanging in the classroom for at least a few weeks; if the students see the pictures all the time in front of their eyes, it will be much easier for them to memorize the characteristics...".
The author explains that: "The booklet is intended to give the teacher an opportunity to explain the wall drawings using reliable, concise and clear information; this is in fact an excellent "racial knowledge" of the German people, containing the most important and necessary things. For easier orientation, the booklet includes photographs of all the race pictures, subtle in black and white, as well as sketches of the main shapes of the skull and face...".
At the beginning of the booklet he lists at length the characteristics of the Nordic race - height, structure of the head, hands, legs, and other parts of the body, as well as the mental characteristics - quick and logical thinking, judgment ability, striving for knowledge of nature, etc. He then lists the physical characteristics of the sub-races of the Nordic race (the six races of the "mixed" Nordic), where in each of them the "perfect" traits are less prominent as in the pure Nordic race. For each of the Aryan sub-races including the purest Nordic race, three pictures are shown which were created by the painter Emil Frohli as he polishes the facial features of actual photographed figures to match precisely the facial characteristics according to racial theory. The author writes that "countless meetings" were held with the painter in which "every line, every shade of color was meticulously discussed that would have made many other artists impatient". After the explanations about each sub-race of the Aryan race, the author warns against the mixing of races in order to prevent the creation of a racially "mixed population" that will directly affect culture. "The moment the mixture turns into miscegenation, the danger of cultural decline occurs. The disharmony of most mixed races alone is a danger; and if there is also lower talent of the non-races, the result of the crossbreeding must be disastrous..." he explains.
One of the problems faced by the propagandists of racial theory in Nazi Germany was the fact that in the German people themselves most people did not fit the ideal racial model of the pure "Nordic/Aryan". This fact was known to the propagators of racial theory, and because of this they created from the outset a picture in which the German people is actually mixed in the three excellent races - the Nordic, Dinaric or Alpine types were defined as types that existed in the past whose traits have since passed from generation to generation while mixing with each other. Textbooks such as the one before us were even careful to point out the fact that rarely can all the signs of racial purity be found in one person. The pictures of the different races were displayed in the classrooms to make the students search themselves who is Nordic, Dinaric or Alpine even half, with the aim of establishing in their consciousness the very existence of the laws of race, and the continuing presence of their characteristics in the German people in the present. The students looked at the different racial portraits, followed the explanations, and searched for similar characteristics in themselves. This was in fact the direct purpose of the education system in Nazi Germany. Teachers pointed to the different facial patterns and the students repeatedly expressed their aspiration to look "completely Nordic", thus racial theory was accepted by them as an unquestionable truth.
35 [1] pages. Minor stains on cover. Good - very good condition.
