The Reich’s biological enemies were simply deemed genetically subhuman. “There was never the degree of wanton disregard for human life that existed in Nazi Germany. Such practices were also never seen as eugenic measures” (Weiss 2010, 267). While masses were being eliminated, patients from “racially elite” groups were receiving the highest-quality medical care. As Weindling (1989) has noted: “The Nazis rapaciously plundered elements from pre-existing movements for motherhood, family welfare, and national health, and incorporated these into their distinctive ideology of racial purity.
