Silly, Silly Man (Or, One of the Third Reich's Many Failures)

....And now, for something completely different.

As is my wont, there are times when the need to immerse myself in history is so great, it trumps all else, and as soon as the children are in bed, I pore over the books and other assorted media scattered around my house. My specialty is the post-Weimar era and the Second World War, everything in-between and immediately afterward. I believe this need arises more frequently nowadays because I am so unhappy with the current state of affairs in my land and the world in general. When I was younger and my father would find me buried in history texts, he summed it up simply by saying that I longed for another time.

Today I hit up on the "breeding program" instigated by our illustrious Heinrich Himmler. I tend to avoid it because it is a sore spot in my family that we don't talk about, for reasons I would rather not delve into. Let's just say I was a victim of the "Swiss" lie until quite recently.

Note: I think we can all agree that while Himmler was basically insane, it does not, by any stretch of the imagination, mean that he was a genius of any kind. Not all insane men are actually latent Wunderkinder.

Himmler had this supposedly bad-ass (!insane!) idea that in order to propagate "pure" Germans, men and women had to be "racially comparable" if they wanted to marry. Basically they had to come from pure German stock, and preferably be of the "Nordic" type. I found it quite interesting that there were very few true examples of this "ideal" family; most were illustrations. The truth was, it didn't work. The majority of Germans at that time were producing "regular" children: Children that were athletic like Goering, tall like Goebbels and blond like Hitler. It sounds idyllic on paper, and I'm sure it seemed that it would produce wonderfully attractive children, but in reality, this is what the women looked like. They aren't ugly...well, SOME of them are not ugly, but...well...

You might say, "well they aren't wearing makeup!". They were not allowed to wear makeup, because it was considered vulgar and base mainly due to the fact that during that time, most--not all--makeup consisted of animal by-products. When I think of all the photographs I have seen of my grandmother all made up, it makes me shudder. Did she even KNOW what she put on her skin?

Now, I am a mother, and my husband and I are both German-Americans, but I have to say that we didn't get married because of our lineage; we got married because we found each other attractive, and we are fortunate enough to produce extremely attractive children who are fair of hair and skin. They could have easily had dark hair, because my mother's hair is black, but they have my hair and one of our sons has my husband's brown eyes while the other two have green and blue, respectively. They are tall for their age and intelligent. (Meaning: they never stop talking!!) They are quick to laugh and love to give affection. No breeding program could have produced these children and frankly, I'm glad. Marrying someone just based on their coloring alone is not only selfish and narrow-minded, but it can produce some homely offspring. I would post some pictures here but it wouldn't be polite if those children are still living. I'm pretty sure all these women have passed on.

Himmler, you silly, silly (mad)man.

This is Himmler demonstrating his superior athletic prowess at shot put. ;)