"The image of man betrays that which distinguishes him from all other beings:" "His ability to observe himself." "It is man's fate... that he not only rejoices in what he sees... but is displeased by his faults... physical and mental." "Man's urge to civilize compels him to strive for the improvement... not only of his material conditions... but of himself, as well." "To pour and to cultivate." "The image of man bears witness to this ambition." "Around 1900, eugenics, race hygiene... the idea of improving the human species... would become a new century's scientific credo." "The message is dramatic." "The biological development of man is in conflict with the civilization he has constructed:" "Hereditary decay, degeneration, leads to doom." "In the face of this dilemma two means of escape are offered:" "to turn the clock back, to retreat or to withstand the imminent catastrophe with the aid of science." ""HOMO SAPIENS 1900"" "Dr. Victor Frankenstein, a fictional scientist of the 19th century is obsessed with discovering the essence of life." "He brings life to an artificial body." "Intervening the process of nature has always been man's dream." "He himself being the most tantalising object." "To study human life is the greatest challenge science has to offer." "Frankenstein." "Enlightened reason transformed into a nightmare." "The scientist as the terrifying symbol of the utopian era." "The sinister image of man." ""It's alive!"" "Art:" "The exultant artifact of self-contemplation." "The classical image of man strives for beauty... harmony, free from disturbing reality." "The despair man seems to feel in the face of his own inadequacy." "the inability to live up to the image he himself has created moves us in its impotence." "The image of man... fills us at times with compassion." ""What nature does blindly... slowly and ruthlessly... man will do providently, quickly and kindly"... says British scientist Francis Galton." "According to Galton... man's evolution is impeded by the fact that inferior people procreate more rapidly." "The idea that life, society, the family can be cultivated like a garden in which the weeds must be distinguished from the useful plants... is something that Galton wants to develop into a science." "He calls his idea eugenics." "Eugenics..." "The control of natural selection offers two alternatives." ""Positive" eugenics... the improvement of the human species by mating superior individuals..." "Breeding." ""Negative" eugenics... preventing people with inferior characteristics from reproducing." "The process of heredity is long shrouded in mystery." "In 1900... the genetic laws of Gregor Mendel are rediscovered." "However, the theory gives rise to controversy." "The Lamarckists... as the opponents of Mendelism are called, contend that environment shapes heredity." ""If the newborn proves to be a weakling... or if the infant is deformed... the medical staff will afford it a humane death perhaps with a small dose of morphine", says the German physician Alfred Ploetz in 1895." "He coins the term "Race Hygiene"." "Positive selection combined with an official weeding-out process." "Ploetz calls for a mobilisation to create a new, comprehensive science." "ARCHIVE OF RACIAL AND SOCIAL BIOLOGY" "Other essential disciplines... almost all of them, in fact, would serve race hygiene as 'auxilliary sciences'." ""The new science" develops into an all-embracing... confessional movement." "In Germany, race hygiene gains popularity." ""Since the achievements of Darwin... we perceive the world in a new light", the German art journal Pan proclaims." ""and only a modern aesthetic based on his theory... can accurately reflect the aspirations of our times..'" "The object of this praise is Jugendstill." "The emergence of biological science... provides man with a new perspective on life." "The concept of degeneration... now has an optimistic anti-thesis:" "biology as the redeemer of the western world." "The whole world is in bloom!" "And even art conveys the message." "Science seems not only to offer an understanding of nature... but also the ability to intervene and adjust." "Everything is biology!" "And, like man himself... society is an organism ruled by its laws." "New discoveries and ideas... produce new movements and beliefs." "Our way of life must be reformed!" "PERIODICAL OF THE RACIAL CULTURE OF THE BODY" "How one lives, how one eats, the way one dresses... reflects biological consciousness." "POWER AND BEAUTY" "THE CULTURE" "HUMAN" "FAMILY PROTECTION" ""Clothing plays havoc with the selection process"... proclaims Richard Ungewitter... a pioneer of the German nudist movement." ""In order to promote sound selection..." "I demand a culture of nudity... so that the strong and healthy may mate."" "To reject clothing... is to be liberated from the decay of modern society... and demonstrates racial consciousness." ""For the human body to achieve perfection", says Ungewitter... to create out of homo sapiens, the ideal living work of art... we must enlist the services of conscious human breeding."" "The goals of nudism's apostle... are not very far removed from the budding ambitions of science." "HEREDITARY SUCCESSION AS GUARD OF POWER" "As the "new science" makes its way into universities... a voluntary army of wild-eyed reformers... racial fanatics and health zealots... rally around the banner of race hygiene." "The watchword of the day is eugenics." "Throughout the civilized world, race hygiene ideas take root." "1916." "An American movie." "In the lead role of physician, his profession in real-life as well, Dr. Harry Haiselden." "And a deformed baby." "Dr. Haiselden spreads the gospel of eugenics in his own way." "By refusing live-saving operations... on deformed infants... or by making the operation fatal... he campaigns for his ideals." "DOES HUMANITY DEMAND THE SAVING OF DEFECTIVE BABIES?" "Dr. Haiselden's eugenics crusade... makes him the star of his own movie." "THE BLACK STORK" "The climactic scene." "Haiselden refuses the child a warming blanket." ""There are times when saving a life is a greater crime than taking one.'" "Dr. Haiselden's campaign... aims at liberating America from defective heritage." ""If man could be induced to fall in love intelligently... if human matings could be placed on the same levels as horse breeding... the most progressive revolution in history can be achieved"." "says Charles Davenport... the father of the eugenics movement in the United States." "Davenport founds an institute... for evolutionary research on Long Island..." "And sets up the Eugenics Record Office." "His dream is to create a nation-wide eugenics register." "Davenport trains field workers... to visit poor houses, prisons and mental wards." "His goal is to document and eliminate... inferior hereditary characteristics." "The champions of eugenics find support in racial theories and concepts of degeneration." "The movement gains momentum... through an aggressive campaign against blacks and immigrants." "Nowhere else does the practice of eugenics score such early successes." "In 1907, the world's first compulsory sterilization law... is introduced." "Over 20 states soon pass similar laws." "Tens of thousands are sterilized." "In 1922, in the small country of Sweden... the world's first government institute of race biology... is established." "12 years later... a unanimous parliament passes a sterilization law." "THE INSTITUTE OF RACIAL BIOLOGY, UPPSALA" "The Institute of Race Biology, in Uppsala... under its founder, Herman Lundborg... is the center of Swedish race research." "In the course of endless travel, material is gathered." "Photographs and physical measurements of thousands of Swedes." "In the pursuit of positive and negative heritage... towns and parishes... prisons and correctional institutions are visited." "In Germany, the Swedish efforts arouse admiration." ""The Institute of Race Biology in Uppsala"... writes the journal Die Sonne... will rouse Germany's dawning race research to life." "Beyond the purely scientific motives..." "The Swedes are committed to the pride and welfare... of their Nordic blood... and, like us, to the Nordic idea... which once again, and for even more profound reasons... strengthens the ties that bond Sweden and Germany."" "The institute places particular emphasis... on anthropological measurements and racial attributes." "Despite this, Race Hygiene would be integrated... into Swedish social policy." "During the 1920s and 1930s..." "Sweden becomes a progressive welfare state... in which ethnic conflict is virtually unknown." "A "passion for social justice"... preserving the physical and mental health of the Swedish stock is the rallying cry." "Race Hygiene is seen as central... to the wellbeing of modern society." "In Sweden, Race Hygiene theories merge with... the vision of the welfare state." "Social engineers are responsible for organizing society for the greater good." "A nation ranks higher than the individual." "The Swedish stock must be protected from inferior and foreign elements fortifying to meet the demands of modern society." "Individuals with inferior traits... must be prevented from procreating." "Positive eugenics, breeding, is still a dream." "Thus, negative eugenics must be accepted." "The sterilization law is not compulsory." "The Swedish variety is democratic:" ""opposition shall be overcome through persuasion."" "Since the turn of the century..." "German anthropology had expanded into other disciplines." "It becomes a unifying force... in the mobilization of race hygiene efforts." "Anthropology is not limited to questions of race and origin." "Its task is also to safeguard the future taking practical measures to save the human race from racial mixing, degeneration and doom." "When Germany's first institute of race biology opens in 1927, in Berlin, anthropology is accorded a leading position." "In the "Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Anthropology," "Human Heredity and Eugenics"." "Race Hygiene has a new home." "According to the Institute's chairman, Eugene Fischer, its task is to "investigate the connection... between heredity, environment and crossbreeding... and to promote social measures which benefit racially sound individuals"." "The opening of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute coincides with the "5th International Conference on Hereditary Research"... in Berlin." "The conference reveals the scientific shift:" "the breakthrough of modern genetics." "There are few presentations about Race Hygiene." "Geneticists dominate the proceedings." "At the head of the Soviet delegation... the largest group at the conference, Nicolai Vavilov." "Hermann Joseph Muller, an American... announces one of the greatest discoveries of genetics:" "that the X-raying of chromosomes causes mutations." "Another American, Raymond Pearl... denies that there is any evidence supporting eugenics." "He argues that 90% of all highly gifted individuals... have parents with average, or even below-average abilities." "Thus, sterilization could be counterproductive." "From the very beginning, the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute finds itself lagging behind the times." "Although genetics is incorporated into race biology research... it becomes just one more "auxiliary science"... overshadowed by an anthropologically- oriented Race Hygiene." "The Soviet Union, 1924." "Lenin is dead." "The German neurologist, Oskar Vogt... receives a letter from Moscow." "Vogt is requested to undertake the task of studying Lenin's brain." "With the brain of Lenin as its first specimen..." "Vogt establishes an institute for brain research in Moscow." "One of the tasks of the institute... is to assemble the brains of highly gifted individuals... in order to establish the bio- logical foundations of intelligence." "The vision is a "pantheon of the brain"... a posthumanist home for the foremost geniuses... of the young Soviet state." "The question "What is intelligence?"..." ""What moulds a human being in his biological heritage?"... provoked violent discussion among Soviet scientists." "In 1928, a film is released in Moscow." "THE SALAMANDER" "What at first appears to be entertainment... proves to be part of the struggle of what shapes man." "The film is an attack on Mendelism." "A declaration that man is not enslaved... by his genetic heritage." "According to the Mendelists... external factors cannot influence genetic makeup." "Only characteristics possessed by their parents... can be transmitted to their offspring." "However, their opponents, the Lamarckists... insist that heritage is moulded by external factors... that acquired characteristics are inheritable." "Today, we know that the Lamarckists were wrong." "The film tells the story of the Austrian biologist, Paul Kammerer." "His fictional name:" "Professor Zange." "Kammarer is a Lamarckist." "Kammarer dedicates his life... to establishing the validity of the Lamarckist theory." ""The trends of the parents are formed by its experiences...' and affects the characteristics of its descendants."" "His experiments set out to prove... that acquired characteristics are inheritable." "" These characteristics, acquired through the environment... 'are passed on to the next generation."" ""The yellow salamander becomes gloomy, when placed in the dark sand." "Its descendants inherit this alteration."" "But Kammerer is accused of scientific fraud." "COLORATION!" "Perhaps he is the victim of a conspiracy." "COLORATION!" "Kammerer commits suicide." "The Soviet Union wants to turn him into a martyr." "In the film, Kammerer, in the guise of professor Zange... is rescued by a Soviet government minister." ""We have to find Zange and bring him to the Soviet Union."" "This official is not just played by any actor." "He is Anatoly Lunacharsky... the Cultural Minister of the Soviet Union." "Lunacharsky plays himself." "For safety's sake, he also wrote the screenplay." "The film is an attempt to halt the advance of Mendelism... considered counter-revolutionary by the Kremlin." ""Mendelism makes us slaves of the past... while Lamarckism makes us captains of the future"." "States Paul Kammerer..." "Giving us a glimpse of the matter's ideological dimensions." "At the core of this scientific controversy... is the vision of the new Socialist Man." "The pioneering spirit of the Russian Revolution... also embraces science." ""The ideals of socialism are bound up with our earthly life"." "says Russian biologist Nikolai Koltsov..." ""but the dream of a perfect order is also a religious idea... for which people will go to their deaths." "Eugenics, creating through the efforts of many generations... a higher human being, is worth the sacrifice." "Eugenics is the religion of the future... and it awaits its prophets."" "Notions of degeneration and decay... play a subordinate role in Russia." "The ideas of eugenics ride on the crest of the revolution... propelled by the early breakthrough of genetic research in Russia." "The future, science and the arts belong to the pioneers!" "And while artists of the avant garde craft symbolic constructions of society in the future, the pioneers of science will supply that society with a new, more efficient human being." ""If our civilization's best elements are to survive... human husbandry... based on the principles of scientific agriculture... is necessary", the American Eugenics Society proclaims." "The gospel spreads from state to state." "The message is disseminated at rallies and fairs." "Eugenics competitions are arranged." "Participants undergo intelligence tests... and medical examinations." "A jury judges the family's "pedigree"." "The winning family receives prizes." "Parallel to the advance of eugenics..." "American genetics research leads the world." "Herrman Joseph Muller... one of the foremost geneticists of the day... is also a fervent advocate of eugenics." "Muller, a communist... has a different understanding of the goal of eugenics." "As an outsider, he witnesses the development and decay of the eugenics movement." "A movement he disdains... not only because of its reactionary and racist tendencies... but also its banality and popularism." "Muller doubts that the goals of capitalism... can be reconciled with those of eugenics." ""Proportionate to the importance of the eugenics revolution... would be its danger if misused", says Muller." ""Such a system, if directed by the same forces... as our press and general propaganda... would lead to a population composed of a maximum number of" "Billy Sundays, Valentinos, Jack Dempseys... even Al Capones."" ""However, after a genuine eugenics revolution", says Muller..." ""it would be possible for the majority of the population to achieve the innate quality of such man as..." "Lenin, Newton, Beethoven, Pushkin and Marx."" "A Petrogrado stricken by famine." "In the shadow of the civil war, biologist Juri Filiptchenko... launches the first eugenics research project in Russia." "Filiptchenko is a Mendelist." "As a member of the committee, aiding intellectuals and artists... surviving the war... he is able to convince prospective participants." "Along with the committee's food packet... dried fish, bread and oil... the participant receives a questionnaire." "SCIENTISTS" "ACADEMICS" "ARTISTS" "Information about family members... especially their intellectual and artistic abilities... should be meticulously detailed:" "musicality, literary talent, verbal skills." "By studying the genetic basis of intelligence..." "Filiptchenko hopes to obtain data... faced by the practical tasks of eugenics." "Many of Russia's most prominent scientists and artists... participate in the study:" "Ivan Pavlov, psychologist." "Alexander Glazunov, composer." "Vladimir Bechterev, neurologist." "Alexandr Blok, poet." "Vladimir Vernadski, geologist and philosopher." "This obsession with genius was not a coincidence." "The eugenics movement in the Soviet Union... focuses on the brain and intellectual capacity." "At the Institute For Brain Research in Moscow, brains of the intellectual elite are studied." "As prominent Soviet citizens die... the collection grows." "Meanwhile, eugenicists studied the biological basis of genius." "They find their research subjects among the living... as well as the dead." "The ancestry of Russian geniuses is charted... and family trees drawn up." "Leon Tolstoi, author." "Karl Baer, zoologist." "Maxim Gorki, author." "Michael Bakunin, revolutionary." "Alexander Pushkin, author." "Piotr Kropotkin, anarchist." "Leonid Leonov, author." "While interest is focused on the brain... and intellect in the Soviet Union... in Germany, it is the body that attracts attention." "BETWEEN BOOKS AND ITS SCHEMES, THE BODY WITHERS." "THE CITY DESTROYS THE NERVES." "In the vision of decay inherent to modern society... the degeneration of the body is a decisive element." "ESPECIALLY IN THE LEISURE HOURS, WE NEGLECT THE BODY." "NOT DUE TO NECESSITY, BUT DUE TO CLOTHING." ""BUT ALL SIN IN THE LAND IS PUNISHED."" "In Germany, the body, its condition and potential... its ugliness and beauty... eloquently mirrors the conflicts of modern society." "The allegedly degenerate human being... is contrasted with the image of classical beauty." "FOR SUCH PEOPLE IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO ADMIRE..." "THE WORKS OF THE ANCIENT GREEKS." "The ideal of antiquity, the image of man... also has a significant influence on the ideas of Race Hygiene." "WE HAVE TO TRY TO BE AS THE ANCIENT GREEKS!" "IF WE MAKE A RECOUP..." "WILL WE LOSE THE FORCE AND BEAUTY?" "While the theoretical basis of race hygiene is studied at the universities, the movement zealots articulate the goals of race hygiene... based on the aesthetics of antiquity." "THE BODY WITH HARMONIC RATIOS..." "IS THE IDEAL OF THE ANCIENT GREEKS." "THE JUDGMENT OF PARIS." ""The incarnation of the beautiful and the good... can only be achieved through racial breeding"... says Hans Gunther." "Referring to Plato, he recommends a "biological aesthetic"." "Hans Gunther, self-taught anthropologist... arranges competitions to define the parameters of racial beauty." "GERMAN HEADS OF SCANDINAVIAN RACE" "In the jury, alongside Gunther... was a man of science:" "Eugen Fischer... head of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in Berlin." "It is in madhouses and asylums the advocates of race hygiene... were to find frightful evidence in their struggle against decay and ugliness." "The repugnance and loathing... conjured up by the imperfections of the human body... become arguments for methods of Race Hygiene." ""The National Socialists are the first party... with race hygiene as a central demand in their program"... notes Germany's leading race hygienist, Fritz Lenz." ""While I do see a risk", he says..." ""that is in all extreme movements... where psychopaths can play a destructive role..." "Hitler is the first politician with real influence... to have understood the central significance of Race Hygiene... and is willing to fight for it."" "In 1933, Fritz Lenz assumes leadership... of what would form the scientific basis of Nazi racial politics:" "the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute." "COMPETITION:" "THE MOST HEALTHY CHILD" "THE COMPETITORS." "Faith in society's ability to mould its members... is strong in the young Soviet state." "Not only the rearing of children... but also the quality of the offspring, awakens great interest." "ELECTION OF CHILDREN." "To give the child a better future... and society a better human being... is the intention of the eugenics movement." "The battle over hereditary theory has reached its climax." "At the Lamarckian theory... that acquired characteristics are inheritable... is ideologically alluring." "THE MOST HEALTHY CHILDREN..." "CREATED IN POVERTY WILL RECEIVE PRIZES." "If the Lamarckists were right... desirable characteristics could be shaped... simply by providing a suitable, social environment." "Education and upbringing could be propagated to the masses from one generation to another." "DIPLOMA" "The Mendelists protest that if the Lamarckists were right... how could the oppressed lower class ever assert itself... against the aristocracy... which, over the centuries, has accumulated desirable traits?" "The adherents of Lamarckism reply that hard work has made the lower classes strong... while wealth has made the aristocracy lethargic and degenerate." "But the Mendelists maintain that the laws of genetics provide the sole realistic basis for human improvement... and that positive eugenics is the only effective means to achieve this control." ""Studies of methods for the Labotary of the Central Institution"" "Higher capacity, physical and intellectual... leads to increased productivity." "Scientific organization and labour... will harmonize man and machine." "The cadence of the life and the rhythm of work will be harmonized." "To aid in this task, to promote useful characteristics... geneticist Alexandre Serebrovki... wants to employ eugenics." "Though a Mendelist..." "Serebrovski offers a Bolshevik version of eugenics." "He is convinced that his findings in the area of poetry... and cattle breeding... can be applied to people." "A Five Year Plan can be completed in two and a half years..." "Serebrovski claims... describing a gigantic project for the improvement of man." ""With artificial insemination... a gifted father can produce ten thousand children", says Serebrovski." "Eugenics is..." ""a science which can maximize the productivity of our country." "and this is only possible under socialism... after the ultimate evolution of the family." "Procreation must be distinguished from love." "because love is a private matter... while procreation is the responsibility of society." "Progress requires healthy and gifted children... and society has the right to make demands on the quality of the product."" ""Instead of feeling pride in her own children", says Serebrovski..." ""women, indeed society as a whole...' would cherish the common achievement of this most wonderful of fields... the creation of a new type of human being."" "Serebrovski soon realized that he had gone too far." "EUGENICS" "Through its newspaper lzvetstia, the Kremlin intervenes." "A poem satirizes Serebrovski's ideas... describing how ideal workers of the future... are afflicted with blisters, in their zeal to produce sperm... for his immense project." "A brand new man of perfect form" "A state approved official form" "Production must be authorized eugenic quality supervised" "Child by child we add and add" "A superman will be their dad" "Eugenic practice makes it grow" "Soon Moscow's streets will overflow" "It is 1930." "And these stances are the death warrant... of the eugenics movement in the Soviet Union." "Genetic research obtains a new reprieve." "THE LEADER OF THE DOCTORS OF THE REICH OF GERMANY, LEONARDO CONTI:" "Bad nativity, negative selection and miscegenation... are the main causes of ruin to the people." "But it also contains the danger of destroying human culture." "Temos que nos questionar..." "If the modern form of life that a civilized people must lead... it does not make with that its factors they take to the decay and degeneration." "The trajectory of the people cannot be stopped." "It will either rise or fall down." "A people must be pure or impure." "The quality of the blood and the race are decisive." "The German people has demonstrated its worth." "It must become the central focus of the great German empire." "We know that, for this conquest..." "The important one is not the individual, as a simple mortal... but a people, who become more fortified each generation... and with eternal renewal." "A small village in Bavaria." "A home for unwed mothers was just located here... founded by the Lebensborn Society." "Here, unmarried women considered racially pure... could give birth in solitude far from the disapproving eyes of society." "Lebensborn, a movement founded by SS leader" "Heinrich Himmler was assigned a more extensive task, however:" "positive eugenics and breeding." "But a conflict lurks which seems to have paralysed the movement." "Positive eugenics requires the subordination of sexuality to the quality of offspring... and the separation of reproduction and love." "Wild rumours and fantasies... about human breeding farms by the SS flourished." "Thus, creating the new German Man... uncovered a paradox which challenged burgeoise morality." "It was also in direct conflict... with one of the pillars of Nazi ideology:" "the institution of the family." "Lebensborn was reduced to a shelter for woman... who had transgressed the dictates of German morality, preventing Aryan blood from being lost to abortion." "While convention and morality raised obstacles to positive eugenics, the practice of negative eugenics involved no such conflict." "Infants judged to be unfit were put to death." "The vision of positive Race Hygiene was relegated to the arts" "The image of man was not burdened by its inherent paradox." "The task of the artist was limited to creating an inspirational model... to give the object surface and proportions... which enhanced the intended aesthetic effect." "The World's Fair in Paris, 1937." "The vision of the "new German Man" is in the limelight." "Across from the German pavilion, the Soviet building is erected." "In the Soviet Union, the winds of revolution have shifted." "The era of the pioneer is over." "The scientific and artistic avant-garde... have been forced to adapt to the ideals of the party." "The idea of the "'new Soviet Man"... has been reduced to a socialist archetype of the commitment to work in the spirit of progress." "In the battle over hereditary theories in the Soviet Union... developments in Germany become a weapon:" "Nazi racial policies are identified with Mendelism." "Genetic research is forbidden as well." "Biological science has a new figurehead:" "Trofim Lysenko." "Crop failure and food shortages brought him to power." "The country needed a miracle... and Lysenko promised quick results." "Previously, you would plant all the potatoes." "His "socialist biology" is based on Lamarckism." "The idea that acquired characteristics are inheritable." "The Lysenko method promises that each sprout will grow as a potato." "As early as 1927, geneticist Alexander Serebrovski... had tried to stop the advance of Lamarckism." "He had written an article in Pravda." "FOUR PAGES THAT HAD SHAKEN THE SCIENTIFIC WORLD" "The article describes Herman Joseph Muller's discovery... that X-rays cause genetic mutations." "According to Serebrovski... this finding demonstrates the falsity of the Lamarckian theory." "Six years later, Muller arrives in the Soviet Union." "Together with his Soviet colleges... he hopes to raise Soviet genetics to a position of world renown." "Obsessed by eugenic ideas..." "Muller refuses to accept the Soviet ban on eugenics." "Muller decides to turn directly to Stalin." "He writes a letter to the leader of the Soviet Union." "What Muller offers Stalin, is a biological plan... for the creation of the "new socialist man"." ""Dear comrade Stalin", writes Muller." ""As a scientist with confidence in the ultimate Bolshevik triumph... through all positive spheres..." "I come to you with a matter of vital importance." "The matter is none less... than that of the conscious control of human biological evolution... that is, control of the hereditary material, lying at the basis of life itself."" "Muller condemns the Nazi's 'vicious doctrine of racial purity'," "Insisting that 'true eugenics can only be a product of socialism' and promises Stalin that it will be possible in only a few generations to bestow the gift of genius on practically every individual... to raise the masses to the level at which now stand our most gifted individuals."" ""With artificial insemination... the reproductive material of the most transcendentally superior individuals the one in fifty hundred thousands, can be used." "Many a mother of tomorrow will be proud to mingle her germ plasm with that of a Lenin or a Darwin."" "Muller promises Stalin..." ""that this turning point in the long story of biological evolution shall bear eternal witness to the greatness of the October Revolution"." "Muller soon learns that Stalin has read his letter." "The awakening is brutal." "His dream of the future has apparently displeased Stalin." "At an official conference in 1936 genetics, eugenics and fascism are branded as one and the same." "Arrests follow." "The same day that Muller flees the Soviet Union... one of his confidantes, Izrael Agol, is shot." "It is 1942." "The United States is at war with Germany and its ideology." "The American eugenics movement is on the retreat." "The wave of sterilization has begun to ebb." "But the terrifying events in Germany is not the only reason." "In light of the progress made by genetics... the simplistic message of eugenics seems unscientific and backwards." "Germany, 1943." "While Nazi racial policy... strives towards its diffuse goals, it is the task of the artist to promote a positive image of its stated intentions." "In Germany, negative eugenics leads to the ultimate horror." "German racial policy results in the endless purging of inferior human material." "400.000 Germans are forcibly sterilized, a 100.000 murdered... before the Race Hygiene project... culminates in the policy of mass extermination." "December, 1944." "In the small country of Sweden, sheltered from the storms of war... an 'ideal child' competition is held." "The professor says that the young competitors... are better than ever before." "The jury consists of:" "Dr. Hultman, Professor Lichtenstein, Sra." "Rydbrant and Dr. Severin." "In Sweden, the Race Hygiene impulse has taken the form of an accelerated sterilization program." "Eight thousand people have been deprived of the ability to have children" "The number of sterilizations... have continued to climb after the war." "Compulsory provisions have been added to the sterilization law." "It would be over 30 years before the law was repealed." "Moscow, May 1945." "World War II is over." "In the Soviet Union, it is Stalin who dictates the laws of biology." "Man shall not be discussed as a biological creature." "Eugenic ideas would never be applied." "Under Trofim Lysenko..." ""socialist biology" has been elevated to state dogma." ""Words cannot express the joy that I feel of living... under socialism and the construction of the Colcoz system."" "APPLAUD OUR GREAT STALIN!" "Many dissenting biologists and geneticists... face the firing squad or die in prison." "Genrikh Frezen, Vassily Slepkov." "Izrael Agol, Solomon Levit." "Nicolai Belyaev, Georgiy Meister." "Nicolai Vavilov, Grigori Levitsky." "Underneath the streets of the city, the graveyards of civilization." "The biological remnants of heredity." ""Oh, these new sciences", Emile Zola writes 100 years ago..." ""These sciences that still speak the stammering language of hypotheses... and have not liberated themselves from the power of imagination." "They belong just as much to the poet as they do the scientist." "What tremendous fresco remains not to be painted... what colossal human comedy and tragedy to be written" "The material with which the question of heredity provides us seems infinite."" "Speculation on the meaning of biological heredity... has had a fateful impact... on political and scientific ideas in the 20th century." "Today, we know how heredity works." "Research on human genetic makeup.." "is in the vanguard of modern science." "As political and social utopian theories lose ground the biological ideal acquires a new lease of life." "Visions on genetics and its social implications... occasionally assume utopian proportions." "In man's effort to define himself... he continually encounters new obstacles to overcome." "The idea of controlling the future by means of genetics... remains a dream." "Man, who he is and what ultimately shapes him is shrouded in mystery." "Man has created a civilization which isolates him from nature and imprisons him in the conflict between pressing forward and longing for the past" "A civilization driven by the concept of endless progress... that knowledge can eternally open new doors." "The idea of improving himself through biological means... has accompanied man for thousands of years." "The fate in measurements transforms this idea into science." "Eugenics is the dream of a measurable man." "In the exploration of heredity... and in the search for a decipherable code... man's intelligence constantly comes to the fore..." "What role does genetic heritage play?" "what is biological necessity... and what can be moulded by environment and upbringing?" "The genetic code, the human recipe is a logical structure which can be mapped and recorded." "Man's capacity can only be judged by his actual achievements." "For man's talent, there is no decipherable code." "Intelligence is a basic pre-requisite for our civilization." "But about the biology of the thinking process... and man's capabilities, we know very little." "The image of man sometimes reveals despair in the face of this reality." "The image of man fills us, at times, with compassion."