The 'Aryan' myth

Like many other Germans, Adolf Hitler had neither blond hair nor was he particularly tall. The Nazi ideal of the "Aryan" with roots in Northern Europe was more the exception than the rule.

Therefore, ancestry became more important: From 1935, all German citizens had to provide what was known as an "Ariernachweis" or Aryan certificate to prove that their ancestors did not include Jewish or Romani people for at least three generations. Civil servants, doctors and lawyers had to provide the "Ariernachweis" two years earlier. Time-consuming research was often necessary before citizens could submit their documents to the "Reich Office for Genealogical Research" for verification.

The Nazis declared Germans to be the "superior master race" and saw Jews as an "inferior race," whose members were first systematically excluded and then murdered. In propaganda films, the Nazis claimed that Jews wanted to destroy the world order and wrest control from that "master race." In caricatures, especially those printed in the Nazi newspaper "Der Stürmer," Jews were represented in grotesque and antisemitic ways with hooked noses and greedy facial expressions. 

There were other population groups that the Nazis associated with "Aryan" features though, especially Nordic and Scandinavian peoples. When they encountered blond and blue-eyed children in countries like Latvia or Poland, they had no scruples about kidnapping them and sending them to homes run as part of the "Lebensborn" eugenics program. These homes served the purpose of "Germanization" — an idea by Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS, who sought to promote the growth of a "racially valuable" population.

The term "Aryan" also became the basis for "Aryanization" — which meant the confiscation and transfer of ownership from Jewish businesses and Jewish property to non-Jews.

The true origin of the 'Aryans'

Even though the term "Aryan" was common in colloquial language, Nazi "race scientists" didn't use it much. Instead, they would refer to "German or kindred blood." They knew the term had originally been used to refer to linguistic similarities, not inherited physical traits. 

Archaeological discoveries show that the term "Aryan" has existed for more than two millennia. The Persian king Darius I had a rock-cut tomb carved in Naqsh-e Rostam in modern Iran. The inscription reads: "I am Darius, the great king … a Persian, son of a Persian, an Aryan, of Aryan descent." The word also appears in sacred texts from India in the Sanskrit language.

Originally, the term "Arya" was used to mean "noble" or "honorable" — as a self-designation by peoples in India and Iran. They are thought to have descended from nomadic peoples that migrated from regions in what is now Ukraine, Kazakhstan and southern Russia. After discovering similarities between most European languages and languages such as Persian or Sanskrit, scientists later classified "Aryans" as members of a shared Indo-European linguistic family.

Racist reinterpretation of the term

The racist reinterpretation of the term "Aryan" began in the middle of the 19th century. In his four-volume work "An Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races," French writer and diplomat Joseph Arthur de Gobineau divided humanity into a white, yellow, and black "race". His conclusion was that the white, "Aryan" original race was superior to the others, characterized by its "immeasurably superior intelligence," and was destined to rule over the others. He also warned against "racial mixing," as this would endanger both the quality of the "Aryan" original "race" and humanity as a whole.

Gobinaeu's theory was largely ignored by his contemporaries but later found traction after being appropriated and altered to serve the nationalist, far-right cause. After his death, many scientists and academics used his racial theory as a basis for their own writings on the subject. One of them was Houston Stewart Chamberlain — who would later also become the son-in-law of Richard Wagner. In his 1899 book "The Foundations of the Nineteenth Century," the British writer raised Gobineau's racist theories to a new level. 

Chamberlain glorified the "Germanic race". However, he was aware that not all Germans physically matched the ideal Aryan type described by Gobineau, so he based his claims on so-called German virtues that he believed were inherited through blood: honesty, loyalty, and diligence. He characterized the "Jewish race" as lacking creativity and idealism, and as being driven solely by material interests, thereby posing a threat to the "Germanic Aryans." 

While Chamberlain did ascribe a certain "noble disposition" to individual Jews, he simultaneously emphasized their alleged "incapacity and inferiority" in comparison to the "Aryan race." Chamberlain's work was well received in Germany. Among his admirers was Kaiser Wilhelm II, who repeatedly invited him to court.

Brothers in spirit: Chamberlain and Hitler

In 1917, Chamberlain joined the far-right, nationalist, and antisemitic German Fatherland Party. On 30 September 1923, Adolf Hitler visited him, apparently leaving a strong impression on Chamberlain. A few days after the meeting, Chamberlain wrote to the future "Führer": "The fact that Germany gives birth to Hitler in times of need shows how alive it is." Hitler, in turn, regarded Chamberlain as one of the "Evangelists" of his worldview. In his book "Mein Kampf," he repeatedly refers to Chamberlain and, like him, praises the supposed superiority of the "Aryan race."

It has long been scientifically established that human "races" do not exist from a biological perspective. The Nazis misused the term "Aryan" to further spread and legitimize their inhumane ideology. To this day, racists around the world still use this false interpretation of the term.

This article was originally written in German.