A Grave Man by David Roberts Read Free Book Online Page A

seemed to hesitate and then, visibly bracing himself, began to unburden himself. ‘If you will bear with me I shall begin with a little history. I assure you it is relevant. At the beginning of the century a German physician and socialist thinker by the name of Alfred Ploetz settled in Spring-field, Massachusetts. He started a medical practice and began to breed chickens. He graduated to studying genealogy and human breeding. He coined the term rassenhygiene – racial hygiene. The name was changed soon after to eugenics, which somehow sounded less threatening. At the same time, quite independently, a German social theorist by the name of Alfred Jost was developing his theory that the state had an inherent right to kill the unfit and useless. He wrote an influential pamphlet entitled The Right to Death .’
    ‘How chilling!’ Churchill broke in. ‘I have read something of this. The basic premise is, as I understand it, that the race should be purified and degenerates eliminated. Of course, who decides who is degenerate is crucial. If I understand rightly, Leonard, this is the so-called science which the Nazis have adopted with such enthusiasm.’
    ‘The Nazis have, as you say, adopted this repellent philosophy to justify their persecution of the Jews. I have also had shocking reports that they are carrying out hideous experiments on the disabled and the mentally handicapped in their efforts to “purify” the race.’
    Edward was deeply shocked. ‘I simply cannot believe what you say, Professor. I have long recognized that the Nazis are gangsters but surely . . .’
    ‘I only tell you what I have been told but my sources are reliable,’ Blacker said grimly.
    ‘At least we . . .’ Edward began but was interrupted by Churchill.
    ‘I wish our hands were clean, Lord Edward, but I very much fear they may not be. Tell him, Leonard.’
    ‘In America,’ Blacker continued remorselessly, ‘the same ideas were developed independently without anyone taking them seriously. A key figure is an American – a zoologist by the name of Charles Davenport. He grew up in Brooklyn Heights and suffered under a tyrannical father imbued with an exaggerated respect for God’s word as passed down to us in the Bible. As a young man he made a reputation of sorts as director of the Brooklyn Institute of Art and Science’s biological laboratory on Long Island. At a place called Cold Spring Harbor on the coast he further developed his studies of what became known as eugenics. He became obsessed with race and came to the conclusion that Nordic types were far superior to southern peoples such as the Spanish, Italians and, in particular, people with black skins.’
    ‘I have read about this kind of thing,’ Edward said. ‘These are the sort of madmen who gave Hitler the idea of the Aryan master race. I recall the fuss there was in Germany when Jesse Owens won four gold medals at the Olympic Games. Hitler was furious to see a black American beat his Nordic heroes and stormed out of the stadium.’
    ‘Precisely. Davenport developed the idea that each racial type possesses not only its own physical characteristics but also moral and intellectual ones which are not visible to the naked eye. These are passed down from generation to generation. The Germans, according to Davenport, are thrifty, intelligent and honest while the southern peoples are lazy, feckless and . . . well, you get the idea.’
    ‘So why is Davenport important? Surely he’s just another madman?’ Edward inquired.
    ‘That would be true if he had not had the luck or the cleverness to get the backing of the Carnegie Institution. He persuaded it to fund a Biological Experiment Station at Cold Spring Harbor “to investigate the method of evolution”. Davenport made it quite clear he would be studying ways of purifying America’s racial stock. He hoped to develop a race of super-Nordics and keep out what he called the “cheaper races”.’
    ‘That’s disgusting,’ Edward