What Did the Germans Know of American Eugenics?
Before World War I, the Germans became aware of American efforts from Geza von Hoffman. Who was an Austrian consular officer in California. And California led the way in Eugenics in the United States. He wrote a book, Racial Hygiene in the United States of North America (1913). Widely read in Berlin and Germany. What Intrigued Hoffman? Sterilization and how easy it was to prevent inferior peoples. He noted the first procedures took place in Indiana in 1899. Even with the benefit of legal statute. By 1909 California and Connecticut instituted legal procedures for sterilization Followed by other states in 1911 and 1912. Kansas legalized sterilization in 1913. Criticism of American Eugenics Germans and British eugenicists praised American contributions. Noting that there was much to learn from the Americans But there was a problem. The policies were too haphazard and too weakly enforced by state authorities. The Europeans felt that the U.S. Constitution weakened sterilization enforcement.
