What Aryans Look Like (1943)
In 1935, the Nuremberg Race Laws were passed in Nazi Germany. The basis of these laws, which paved the way for the Holocaust, was the Nazi belief in the superiority of the Aryan race. The National Socialists gave the title of honorary Aryan to people who were not officially Aryans but were considered as such for political reasons. These included, for example, the Japanese, with whom the Nazis cooperated geopolitically.
The Aryans themselves were also divided into different races. Nazi ideologist Hans F.K. Günther described six Aryan subraces around 1943: the Northern race, Western race, Eastern race, Dinaric race, Eastern Baltic race and Faalic race. The Northern race was considered the best race. Members of this race were the so-called “true bearers of the creative culture”. In a 1943 book, Hans F.K. Günther described the character of the Nordic Aryans as follows:
“A tenacious will, which dares to take risks, fighting spirit and perseverance of what is recognised as right, courageous sacrifice and contempt for death, pride and self-confidence have given the North Race peoples the power to impose their culture, which stems from the creative power of the North Race, on the subjugated peoples and to establish flourishing empires with North Race customs.”
