The racial science wall chart was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2005 by the District of Unterfranken, Bavaria, Germany, converting a 1991 loan.
Dr. Bruno Kurt Schultz (1901-1997) was born in Sitzenberg, Austria-Hungary (now Sitzenberg-Reidling, Austria). He earned a doctorate in physical anthropology and his work extended into the fields of heredity, ethnology, and anthropometry. He was the author of several books and many articles about anthropometry and racial hygiene. He lectured on these topics in Vienna, Austria, and in Munich and Berlin, Germany. In 1929, Dr. Schultz became a German citizen, and began working as editor at the J. F. Lehmann publishing house in Munich, which was known for producing medical literature, charts, and material about eugenics. In 1932, Dr. Schultz joined the Nazi Party. He was in the Schutzstaffel (SS), and worked in the Rasse- und Siedlungshauptamt-SS (SS Race and Settlement Main Office; RuSHA). While working there, Dr. Schultz developed the criteria that defined the physical characteristics that determined who in German society was considered “racially pure” and “Nordic.” His model was also used to determine who was eligible to join the SS based on their ancestry, the color of their hair, eyes, and skin, and other aspects deemed “racially pure.” Following the German invasion and occupation of other nations just before and during World War II (1939-1945), the same general model was used to analyze populations for resettlement and Germanization within those territories. In February 1942, Dr. Schultz was appointed Chief of the Race Office (RuSHa), a position he held until the end of the war in May 1945. Dr. Schultz went through what the allied powers called denazification: the effort to remove all traces of Nazi ideology, institutions, influence, and laws from Germany, as well as Nazi party members from offices or positions of responsibility. He was not prosecuted as a war criminal. In the Nuremburg Doctors’ Trial (1946), other doctors were presented as manipulated by the SS and various Nazis, and were not considered affiliated with the concentration camps or killing centers. Instead, the SS and medical personnel, such as Dr. Mengele, who were directly involved with the camps and centers, were identified as those most responsible for the atrocities.
Large, rectangular, mechanical lithographic wall chart printed in black ink on offwhite paper with linen backing. The top and bottom edges are adhered to circular wooden dowels; the top dowel has a flat back. Printed on the front are 16 photographic reproductions featuring headshots of 8 males of different ethnicities in front and right profile headshots, arranged in 4 horizontal rows of 4, with German captions stating their ethnicity. The right side of the top dowel has a flat, metal bar attached with screws with a curved end extension. On the back is a triangular, metal hanger with a black, ribbed, cloth strap screwed to the center, with an eyelet on each side; the left has a string tied to it. There is a circular metal tag with engraved numbers nailed on the right edge. On the reverse in the top left corner is a publisher's label; on the lower left corner is green tape with an inscription. reverse, left side of top roller bar, graphite : 161 reverse, top left, on metal tag, engraved: 119 reverse, top center, handwritten in black ink : C IV a 161 reverse, top right center, red grease pencil : 118 (illegible) reverse, bottom, left, on green tape, blue ink : MK242 reverse, top right, publisher’s label, black ink : Wandtafeln für den rassen / vererbungskundlichen Unterrich,/ Reihe I / Lafel 2. Unser Europa Erde Raffen / J.F. Lehmann Verlag / München [Wall panels for the races / tables and lessons, / Series I / Label 2. Our Earth, Europe’s paradise / J.F. Lehmann Publisher / Munich]
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overall: Height: 56.875 inches (144.463 cm) | Width: 42.500 inches (107.95 cm) | Depth: 1.500 inches (3.81 cm)
Large wall panel lithograph featuring 16 headshots of eight racial/ethnic types from outside Europe. Nazi racial policy makers idealized the Nordic race and considered other racial groups to be inferior. The chart was produced by The Race and Settlement Main Office (RuSHA) and edited by Dr. Bruno K. Schultz, a race specialist and SS and Nazi Party member, as a teaching tool for racial hygiene instruction. Nazi ideology sought to create a racially pure German nation. All those who did not belong to the Nordic race were to be excluded from the community. Thus citizens had to be educated to recognize the physical characteristics that revealed the racially undesirable.
Races of the Earth II: Non-European Races Large wall chart with 16 photos of non-European races to teach racial hygiene