Hygiène raciale
Before being employed by the Nazis in what remains the most deadly program of “racial purification”, Eugenics was a very popular concept among scientists in the US and Europe. The science of “good birth”, which aims to create the perfect human being, sets out to achieve this by preventing reproduction of those perceived as weak, sick, disabled, or otherwise “degenerate”. As early as 1907, the US applied the first eugenics laws, which continued to be in force until the 1970s. In Sweden, 63,000 people were sterilized, mostly after WWII. The film switches deftly between the explanation of historians and the testimony of victims who continue to struggle for recognition of the harm they have suffered, which has been erased from the collective memory. From North Carolina to Sweden and Germany, a terrifying journey into this quest for the “best of worlds”.
- Overview
- Crew
Hygiène raciale
- Overview
- Crew
Status
Released
Release Date
Apr 1, 2012
Runtime
0h 52m
Genres
Documentary, History
Original Title
Hygiène raciale
Production Companies
SENSO Films, Geppert Productions
Director
Guillaume Dreyfus
Description
Before being employed by the Nazis in what remains the most deadly program of “racial purification”, Eugenics was a very popular concept among scientists in the US and Europe. The science of “good birth”, which aims to create the perfect human being, sets out to achieve this by preventing reproduction of those perceived as weak, sick, disabled, or otherwise “degenerate”. As early as 1907, the US applied the first eugenics laws, which continued to be in force until the 1970s. In Sweden, 63,000 people were sterilized, mostly after WWII. The film switches deftly between the explanation of historians and the testimony of victims who continue to struggle for recognition of the harm they have suffered, which has been erased from the collective memory. From North Carolina to Sweden and Germany, a terrifying journey into this quest for the “best of worlds”.
