Eugenics movement & Hitler

Out of everything that we've read in class so far, the readings on eugenics were the hardest for me to read. All of our readings have been rampant with evidence of racism, sexism, and prejudice against all kinds of people. However, I was able to somewhat understand why some people have had these perspectives in the past. I don't condone them, but I can see how one could be raised to think negatively about people who were different from them and considered "abnormal." But the idea of sterilizing or euthanizing a child, an innocent baby who hasn't even had the chance to develop into anyone's idea of a normal, productive member of society, just because of a PERCEIVED defect, made me sick. I couldn't help but think of Adolf Hitler and his mission during the Holocaust. He's been labeled every awful name in the book for his viewpoints on Aryan supremacy and his ideas behind eliminating people who were homosexual, who were different races, and who had physical or mental disabilities. But these eugenics doctors and advocates were doing the same thing! They just threw in a bunch of medical mumbo-jumbo and tried to conjure up a scientific rationale to make it sound better to the general public. Their goal was the same as Hitler's: the supremacy of a certain, "better" kind of people by eliminating those who were less than their idea of beautiful, useful, etc.The eugenics movement was on a much smaller scale, wasn't public for very long, and was supported by trusted medical professionals and other well-respected public figures. Therefore, it's not well-known nor is it often talked about when discussing topics like genocide, race supremacy, etc. I don't think it should be forgotten and I think more people should be aware that this is a part of our fairly recent history that has
 had more influence on today's world than most people realize.

Sarah Bradley