What was pseudoscientific theory of race followed by hitler
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The theory of Scandinavian racial purity cherished by Hitler and the Nazis has been rubbished by new scientific research.
The study found that bodies from 2000-year-old burial sites in eastern Denmark contained "as much genetic variation in their remains as one would expect to find in individuals of the present day".
The findings, in an analysis by the University of Copenhagen which has just been published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, explodes the Nazis' much cherished concept of a 'superior' Nordic race.
Hitler used pseudo-scientific research to back up claims that northern Europeans could form a Master Race which would lead mankind, and even set up a breeding program between Germans and Norwegians to foster it.
The racist theory, which placed the Master Race at the top of mankind's hierarchy and Jews at the bottom, played a central role in the Holocaust.
But according to the new research, the "concept of a single Scandinavian genetic type, a Scandinavian race that wandered to Denmark, settled there, and otherwise lived in complete isolation from the rest of the world, is a fallacy".
Far from being isolated and 'genetically pure', the study on the burial sites found that Danes mixed with peoples from across the globe.
"It becomes clear that the Danes must have been in contact with other peoples," said scientist Linea Melchior, who analysed DNA from the Bøgebjerggård and Skovgaarde sites.
"One of the Danish burial grounds, which dates back to the iron age also contained the remains of a man who appears to have been of Arabian origin," she added.
Research at another early Danish burial site has unearthed a corpse of Siberian origin.
Both that body and the 'Arabian' body discovered by Linea Melchior were buried in identical fashion to 'locals', showing researchers say "that people from distant parts of the world could be and were absorbed in Danish communities".
The study found that bodies from 2000-year-old burial sites in eastern Denmark contained "as much genetic variation in their remains as one would expect to find in individuals of the present day".
The findings, in an analysis by the University of Copenhagen which has just been published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, explodes the Nazis' much cherished concept of a 'superior' Nordic race.
Hitler used pseudo-scientific research to back up claims that northern Europeans could form a Master Race which would lead mankind, and even set up a breeding program between Germans and Norwegians to foster it.
The racist theory, which placed the Master Race at the top of mankind's hierarchy and Jews at the bottom, played a central role in the Holocaust.
But according to the new research, the "concept of a single Scandinavian genetic type, a Scandinavian race that wandered to Denmark, settled there, and otherwise lived in complete isolation from the rest of the world, is a fallacy".
Far from being isolated and 'genetically pure', the study on the burial sites found that Danes mixed with peoples from across the globe.
"It becomes clear that the Danes must have been in contact with other peoples," said scientist Linea Melchior, who analysed DNA from the Bøgebjerggård and Skovgaarde sites.
"One of the Danish burial grounds, which dates back to the iron age also contained the remains of a man who appears to have been of Arabian origin," she added.
Research at another early Danish burial site has unearthed a corpse of Siberian origin.
Both that body and the 'Arabian' body discovered by Linea Melchior were buried in identical fashion to 'locals', showing researchers say "that people from distant parts of the world could be and were absorbed in Danish communities".
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