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This thesis is a historiographical study of the eugenics and euthanasia programs of Nazi Germany. It traces there development from the end of World War One to the fall of Hitler's Third Reich. There are three stages in this study. First, I examine eugenics after World War One and the effect the era had on society. Then I study the Nazi transition from eugenics measures to "euthanasia", and last I analyze the transferring of the killing methods from the "euthanasia" centers to the concentration camps. The questions of how did the idea for eugenics develop in Germany society, what role did World War One play in its development, why did the Nazis move from eugenics to "euthanasia", was the children's euthanasia program and Aktion T-4 the same or different programs, did doctors willingly participate in the programs, was there a resistance to "euthanasia", and what role did the T-4 program play in the "Final Solution" are examined. This study uses a wide range of secondary sources. It examines the authors of those sources arguments and if their work plays a role in out better understanding of the event. Many of these authors are the leading scholars in their field. This study concludes that these sources have lead to our better understand the Holocaust, and the argument as to wither or not the mass murder of European Jewry was a well planned event or a trial and error process that lead to mass murder.

My intention in conducting this research endeavor is to satisfy the requirements of earning a Master of Art degree in the Department of History at the University of Central Florida. My research aim has been to examine literature written from the 1930's through 2006 which chronicles the lives of Jewish and Gentile German men, women, and children living under Nazism during the years 1933-1945. I was particularly interested and hopeful in discovering the various ways in which young German females were affected by the introduction and spread of Nazi ideology. My main goal was to sort through the features of everyday life to extricate the often subtle ways Germans rebuffed conformity to Nazism. And as the research commenced, it became increasingly necessary to acknowledge and distinguish the ongoing historical debate about what aspects of non-conformity are acceptably considered "resistance" among contemporary historians also analyzing this period. The original research questions I hoped to address and discuss were firstly these; Upon the arrival of Nazism on the heels of the Weimar Republic, how was Nazism received by German citizens; secondly, once Nazism gathered a contingent of strong support, what avenues existed for those opposed to Nazism?; and thirdly, in what ways did opposition, resistance, and non-conformance to Nazism manifest itself? This examination focused singly on efforts and motivations of German citizens within Germany, to illuminate reactions and actions of women and children; whether Jewish, Protestant, or Catholic because I feel their stories are often over-looked as being insignificant. This study further recognizes the contributions and great courage which manifest when faced with Hitler's totalitarian regime.

In the early 1920s the Weimar Republic commissioned a series of new light cruisers of the Königsberg class and in July 1926, the keel of the later christened Karlsruhe was laid down. The 570 feet long and almost 50 feet wide ship was used as a training cruiser for future German naval officers. Between 1930 and 1936 the ship conducted in all five good-will tours around the world, two under the Weimar Republic and three under the Third Reich. These good-will tours or gute Willen Fahrten were an important first step in reconciling Germany to the rest of the world and were meant to improve international relations. The Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defense carefully orchestrated all stops of the vessels in conjunction with the respective embassies abroad. Final arrangements were made at least six-nine months before the scheduled visits and even small adjustments to the itinerary proved troublesome. Further, all visits were treated as “unofficial presentations.” The mission of the Karlsruhe was twofold: first to extend or renew relations with other nations, and second to foster notions of Heimat and the Germandom (Deutschtum) abroad. The dissertation is divided in two large parts; the individual training cruises with all the arrangements, the selection of the individual nations and ports, and explores the level of decision making amongst the various agencies, departments, and organizations involved. For the Weimar Republic, the ship represented modernity and a break with the past, and embodied at one and the same time, traditional German culture and the idea of progress. Since the cruiser continued its training abroad after 1933, a comparison between the “two Germanies” makes sense. The second part of the research will explore the notion of Heimat and the Germans living abroad and how the Karlsruhe acted as a symbolic link between the two. The concept of Heimat is important to the self-understanding, or identity construction of the Germans. It is the quintessence of Germaness (Deutschtümelei). This multi-layered and complex idea embodies not only language, but also traditions and customs, nature and politics. It evokes feelings of belonging, comfort, sanctuary, and safety. We can identify the term with family, birthplace, nation, dialect, race, even food. Heimat is a place where one doesn’t have to explain oneself. The German navy encouraged the sailors to write diaries during the voyages, cadets were required to do so. Several of the diaries and letters provide the foundation for this dissertation. Other primary sources include reports, logbooks, navy policies and procedures found at the Foreign Office in Berlin, the German Naval Archives in Flensburg, the Archives at the Museum for Maritime History in Bremerhaven, the University of Hamburg, the University of the Bundeswehr in Hamburg, the British National Archives in Kew, and the National Archives in Washington, D.C. particularly the records of the German Naval High Command, as well as cabinet meetings from the Weimar period. Various navy journals and the official Merkblätter (information sheets) from the Karlsruhe are also included. Printed onboard, these pamphlets contain general information about the local population, including the form of government, important industries, and the number of Germans living there. German newspapers, but also newspapers from each country or port visited were be incorporated.

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German resistance to Nazi oppression existed within the ranks of academe, the military, the working classes, and the established churches. The Catholic Church, under the leadership of Pope Pius XI, entered into a non-interference agreement with Hitler, but the Evangelical Church experienced a severe split. From this division grew the Confessing Church. A number of leaders within the Confessing Church were arrested or killed during Nazi Germany, and it was the women of the church who continued the work overtly and covertly. The work of these women has mostly been marginalized by history, in part because historic writings belonged to the male hegemony, and in part because the women did not seek recognition. As most of the women about whom I am writing came of age during Weimar Republic (1919-1933), I argue that the women of the resistance received their empowerment to rise up against Nazi oppression from the women's movement of the interwar years. To understand the normative influences, one must consider the societal and political forces that helped shape that time. What led Germany on this path of destruction and caused it to vote for a leviathan in 1933? How did the work of the resistance women serve to fight against the forces of evil that threatened to drown out all reason? What motivated these women to disregard their own safety in their struggle against evil? / Ph. D.

Submitted by Renata Aparecida Frigeri (renatafrigeri@yahoo.com.br) on 2018-05-24T13:22:24Z No. of bitstreams: 1 FRIGERI_Renata_FINAL.pdf: 22629717 bytes, checksum: 8a7ffebc0b9a3d026126967029e3febf (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Lucilene Cordeiro da Silva Messias null (lubiblio@bauru.unesp.br) on 2018-05-24T18:45:28Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 frigeri_ra_dr_bauru.pdf: 22616640 bytes, checksum: b08f7ecb9e3e43736e6296d42a367383 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-05-24T18:45:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 frigeri_ra_dr_bauru.pdf: 22616640 bytes, checksum: b08f7ecb9e3e43736e6296d42a367383 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-05-11 / Esta pesquisa visa investigar como Leni Riefenstahl usou o cinema, um instrumento da modernidade, para explorar elementos pertencentes ao romantismo histórico presentes no Zeitgeist, o “espírito do tempo”, e assim redefinir a identidade ariana em sua obra cinematográfica, como almejada por Adolf Hitler. As quatro produções selecionadas para análise são A Luz Azul (Das blaue Licht, 1932), O Triunfo da Vontade (Triumph des Willens, 1935), Olympia (Idem, 1938) e Tiefland (Idem, 1954). Embora as películas contemplem temas distintos e tenham sido produzidas com um intervalo de 22 anos, elas possuem unicidade identária em seu cerne. Esta tese percorre os contextos histórico, político e cultural, respectivamente, por meio das obras de Richard Evans (2014), Ian Kershaw (2010), Peter Gay (1978), Siegfried Kracauer (1988) e Lotte Eisner (1985); os conceitos de cultura e identidade são adotados a partir da perspectiva de Denys Cuche (1999) e Clifford Geertz (2015). Para a análise das películas, elegeu-se como metodologia o esquema quaternário de Massimo Canevacci (1990) e a binariedade proposta por Claude Lévi-Strauss (2012 e 2013). Os filmes selecionados fornecem elementos que permitem aferir o espírito do tempo na Alemanha, assim como a ideologia da diretora, que mesmo após a queda do regime nazista manteve em sua obra elementos identitários alinhados com o propósito de Hitler. / This research seeks to investigate on how Leni Riefenstahl used a modernity instrument such as cinema, to explore elements of historical romanticism in Zeitgeist, the “spirit of time” and therefore redefine the Aryan identity in his cinematographic work, as longed by Adolf Hitler. Four productions were chosen for the analysis, including: The Blue Light (Das Blaue Licht, 1932), Triumph of the Will (Triumph des Willens, 1935), Olympia (Olympia, 1938) and Tiefland (Tiefland, 1954). Although the movies contemplate different themes and were produced with an intermission of 22 years, they share an identity oneness in their core. This present thesis travels through the historical, political and cultural contexts, respectively, by means of Richard Evans’ (2014), Ian Kershaw’s (2010), Peter Gay’s (1978), Siegfried Kracauer’s (1988) and Lotte Eisner’s (1985) works; the concepts of culture and identity are adopted from the perspective of Denys Cuche (1999) and Clifford Geertz (2015). For the movies’ analysis, the methodology chosen were the quaternary scheme by Massimo Canevacci (1990) and the binarity proposed by Claude Lévi-Strauss (2012 and 2013). The selected movies provide elements that allow assess to the spirit of time in Germany, as well as the directors’ ideology, that even after the fall of the Nazi regime she kept identity elements in her works, aligned with Hitler’s purpose.