Return
As noted at http://www.esthermlederberg.com/Eugenics (Altenburg)/Eugen Fischer.html, Various German eugenicists found Deutsch Südafrika a fruitful ground for medical research. In 1905 Fischer's study, "Anatomical studies of the soft tissues of the head of two Papuans", was referenced in Christian Fetzer's study of skulls and possibly brains of Herero and Nama prisoners of war. (Fetzer received the 17 heads from Dr. P. Bartels, a physician at Shark Island Extermination Camp.) In 1908 Fischer traveled to Deutsch Südwestafrika to conduct his own field research, studying offspring of German or Boer fathers and African mothers (the "Rehoboth Basters"). The resulting paper (Die Rehobother Bastards und das Bastardierungsproblem beim Menschen, Jena 1913) concluded that while the existing mixed-race (Mischling) descendants of mixed marriages might be useful for Germany, these descendants should not continue to reproduce. Fischer's recommendations publicized before the paper was published, and by 1912 interracial marriage was prohibited throughout the German colonies.