The Kaiser Wilhelm Institutes and the Nazi Genetics Program
The dark alliance between state ideology and scientific research
In the 20th century, genetics emerged as one of the most promising frontiers of science, offering the potential to revolutionize medicine, agriculture, and our understanding of life itself. Nowhere was this potential more aggressively pursued—and more tragically corrupted—than in Nazi Germany.
At the heart of this corruption stood the Kaiser Wilhelm Society (KWG), Germany's premier research organization, whose biological institutes underwent what appeared to be substantial modernization and expansion during the Third Reich. Beneath this facade of scientific progress festered a darker reality: the systematic perversion of genetic science to serve a regime bent on racial purification and territorial expansion.
This is the story of how prestige scientific institutions became accomplices in some of history's most horrific crimes, and what this means for the relationship between science and politics today.
The relationship between the Kaiser Wilhelm Institutes and the Nazi regime was not merely one of coercion, but rather a complex symbiosis that served the interests of both parties. Leading scientists advanced their research projects by building close ties with politicians, science-funding organizations, and corporations 1 . In return, they provided the scientific legitimacy and technical expertise needed to implement the regime's demographic and racial policies.
Founded in 1927 in Berlin, the KWIA became a primary source of scientific justification for Nazi racial hygiene policies under directors Eugen Fischer and Otmar von Verschuer 2 .
Funding Increase
Governmental support increase from 1933-1934
This collaboration was particularly pronounced at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Anthropology, Human Heredity, and Eugenics (KWIA). Fischer's work on so-called "racial hybrids" directly influenced German colonial legislation and later provided supposed scientific support for the Nuremberg Laws 2 . The Rockefeller Foundation, ironically, had partially funded the building of this institute and helped keep it afloat during the Great Depression 2 .
Fischer utilized his importance to the Reich to secure a 60% increase in governmental support from 1933 to 1934, with funding rising another 75% by 1937 . This generous financial backing allowed for the expansion of scientific personnel and extended the KWIA's research orientation, particularly in service to the state.
The Kaiser Wilhelm Institutes pursued several major research initiatives that aligned with the needs of the Nazi political economy and war effort. These projects, while scientifically modern, were deeply entangled with the regime's criminal policies.
At the KWIA, researchers developed tools like the Fischer-Saller scale for racial classification and experimented on Romani people and African-Germans 2 .
The institute analyzed 600 children of French-African soldiers and German mothers—the so-called "Rhineland Bastards"—who were subsequently subjected to sterilization 2 .
Other Kaiser Wilhelm Institutes developed research programs in biochemical genetics, virus research, radiation genetics, and plant genetics 1 .
The KWI for Plant Breeding Research developed new crop varieties suited to the climates of occupied Eastern territories, directly supporting Nazi plans for "Lebensraum in the East" 3 .
Otmar von Verschuer maintained close contact with Auschwitz doctor Josef Mengele 3 .
Mengele supplied the institute with specific blood samples and specimens from individuals murdered at the camp 3 . Karin Magnussen received the eyes of murdered Sinti and Roma prisoners for her eye color studies 2 .
Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Anthropology, Human Heredity, and Eugenics (KWIA) founded in Berlin 2 .
KWIA receives 60% increase in governmental support under Nazi regime .
Nuremberg Laws enacted with scientific justification from KWIA research 2 .
Otmar von Verschuer becomes director of KWIA; establishes connection with Josef Mengele at Auschwitz 3 .
Freezing experiments conducted at Dachau concentration camp 5 .
Perhaps the most vivid example of how science was perverted to serve the Nazi war machine—and the complete disregard for human life that characterized this research—can be found in the freezing experiments conducted at Dachau concentration camp.
From August 1942, prisoners at Dachau were forced to sit in tanks of freezing water for up to three hours 5 . The experiments, conducted under the direction of SS doctor Sigmund Rascher, were designed to simulate conditions faced by German soldiers on the Eastern Front, where many suffered from severe hypothermia 5 .
The methodology was systematic and brutal:
The data collected from these experiments, recorded with cold precision, reveals the horrific human cost:
| Attempt | Water Temperature | Body Temperature When Removed | Body Temperature at Death | Time in Water | Time of Death |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 5.2°C (41.4°F) | 27.7°C (81.9°F) | 27.7°C (81.9°F) | 66 minutes | 66 minutes |
| 13 | 6°C (43°F) | 29.2°C (84.6°F) | 29.2°C (84.6°F) | 80 minutes | 87 minutes |
| 16 | 4°C (39°F) | 28.7°C (83.7°F) | 26°C (79°F) | 60 minutes | 74 minutes |
| 25 | 4.6°C (40.3°F) | 27.8°C (82°F) | 26.6°C (79.9°F) | 51 minutes | 65 minutes |
Table 1: Selected Freezing Experiment Results from Dachau 5
Another series of experiments placed prisoners naked in the open air for several hours with temperatures as low as -6°C (21°F) 5 . The goal was to study both the physical effects of cold exposure and assess different methods of rewarming survivors.
The "scientific importance" of these experiments was their potential application to saving German pilots who crashed in cold waters and soldiers fighting in freezing conditions on the Eastern Front. However, the data was obtained through what can only be described as torture leading to death. Of the 360-400 experiments conducted, between 80-100 victims died directly from the procedures, and many survivors suffered permanent injuries 5 .
Rascher published an article on his experience using Polygal—a substance made from beet and apple pectin that aided blood clotting—without detailing the nature of the human trials 5 . He even set up a company staffed by prisoners to manufacture the substance 5 . This exemplifies how scientific publication and commercial enterprise became intertwined with the exploitation and murder of human subjects.
The research conducted at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institutes relied on both standard scientific materials and others obtained through horrific means.
| Research Material/Solution | Function/Application | Source/Ethical Concerns |
|---|---|---|
| Polygal (beet & apple pectin) | Blood clotting studies for combat wounds | Tested on prisoners shot without anesthesia 5 |
| Fischer-Saller Scale | Racial classification based on hair color | Used to support Nazi racial ideology 2 |
| Blood samples | Genetic and serological research | Sourced from Auschwitz by Josef Mengele 3 |
| Human eyes | Iris structure and eye color inheritance studies | Taken from murdered Sinti and Roma prisoners 2 |
| Human skulls | Anthropometric measurements | Collected from Namibian and other populations 2 |
| Plant varieties | Agricultural development for Eastern territories | Supported Nazi "Lebensraum" policies 3 |
| X-ray equipment | Mass sterilization research | Caused severe burns, cancer, and death 5 |
Table 3: Research Materials and Their Sources at Kaiser Wilhelm Institutes
This toolkit reveals a shocking continuum from standard laboratory reagents to human body parts obtained through murder, illustrating how deeply the Kaiser Wilhelm Institutes had become entangled in the crimes of the Nazi state.
After Germany's capitulation in May 1945, most of the thousands of files and laboratory materials of the KWIA were moved to an unknown location or destroyed, preventing their use as evidence in war crimes trials 2 . Most staff members escaped trial, including Mengele, who fled to South America 2 . The Kaiser Wilhelm Society was renamed the Max Planck Society in 1948, but the KWI of Anthropology, Human Heredity, and Eugenics was so associated with the Nazis that it was never reopened 2 .
For decades, the Max Planck Society emphasized the outstanding scientific achievements and Nobel Prizes of its predecessor while largely ignoring its prominent role in the Nazi system 3 . The myth of politically detached, pure basic research was upheld well into the 1980s 3 .
In 2001, then-Max Planck President Hubert Markl offered a public apology for the crimes of the past, particularly to survivors of the criminal human experimentation connected with the KWI for Anthropology in Auschwitz 3 .
"In truth, only those who are guilty can beg for pardon. Nevertheless, I ask you, the surviving victims, most sincerely to forgive those who, for whatever reason, have themselves failed to beg your pardon." 3
The legacy of this research raises profound ethical questions that continue to resonate today. Should data from unethical research ever be used, even if it could save lives?
As one medical ethicist notes, "The basic intuition is that if information had been obtained unethically, but we use that information, then we then become complicit in that past." 7
The story of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institutes under Nazism serves as a lasting warning about the moral vulnerability of science to political manipulation and the responsibility of scientists to maintain ethical boundaries—even when faced with promises of generous funding and institutional expansion. As we continue to advance into new frontiers of genetic science, this history reminds us that scientific progress without ethical guidance can lead to dehumanization and atrocity rather than human advancement.