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'''Honorary Aryan''' ({{lang-de|'''Ehrenarier'''}}) is a term from [[Nazi Germany]]. It was a status granted by the Nazi ''Bureau of Race Research'' to certain individuals and groups of people—who were not generally considered to be biologically part of the [[Aryan race]]—which certified them as being part of the Aryan race. The prevalent explanation as to why the status of "honorary Aryan" was bestowed by the Nazis upon other non-[[Nordic race|Nordic]]—or even less exclusively, non-[[Aryan Race|Indo-European]]—races is that the services of those races were deemed valuable to the German economy or war effort,<ref>"In the Wind", ''[[The Nation (U.S. periodical)|The Nation]]'' Vol. 147, Issue 7. August 13, 1938 <!--Citation might be improved by someone with access to the actual issue or the ''Nation ''archive; this was taken from http://www.nationarchive.com/Summaries/v147i0007_08.htm--></ref> or simply for other purely political reasons.
'''Honorary Aryan''' ({{lang-de|'''Ehrenarier'''}}) is a term from [[Nazi Germany]]. It was a status granted by the Nazi ''Bureau of Race Research'' to certain individuals and groups of people—who were not generally considered to be biologically part of the [[Aryan race]]—which certified them as being honorarily part of the Aryan race. The prevalent explanation as to why the status of "honorary Aryan" was bestowed by the Nazis upon other non-[[Nordic race|Nordic]]—or even less exclusively, non-[[Aryan Race|Indo-European]]—races is that the services of those races were deemed valuable to the German economy or war effort,<ref>"In the Wind", ''[[The Nation (U.S. periodical)|The Nation]]'' Vol. 147, Issue 7. August 13, 1938 <!--Citation might be improved by someone with access to the actual issue or the ''Nation ''archive; this was taken from http://www.nationarchive.com/Summaries/v147i0007_08.htm--></ref> or simply for other purely political reasons.


==Notable ascriptions==
==Notable ascriptions==
Line 24: Line 24:
An October 1933 statement by [[Foreign Minister of Germany|Foreign Minister]] [[Konstantin von Neurath]] which falsely claimed in response to the Japanese protests that Japanese were exempt, however, was widely publicized and caused many in Germany, Japan, and elsewhere to believe that such an exemption existed. Instead of a broad exemption, an April 1935 decree stated that racial discrimination cases involving non-Aryans that might jeopardize Germany diplomatic relations&mdash;i.e., Japanese&mdash;would be dealt with individually. Decisions on such cases often took years, with those affected unable to obtain jobs or interracially marry, primarily because the German government preferred as much as possible to avoid giving exemptions. The German government often exempted more German-Japanese than it preferred in order to avoid a repeat of the 1933 controversies, however, and in 1934 it [[Censorship in Nazi Germany|prohibited]] the German press from discussing the race laws when Japanese were involved.<ref name="furuya2000">{{cite book | title=Japanese Prisoners of War | publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group | editor=Towle, Philip; Kosuge, Margaret; Kibata, Yōichi | author=Furuya, Harumi | chapter=Japan's Racial Identity in the Second World War: The Cultural Context of the Japanese Treatment of POWs | year=2000 | pages=117–134 | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=ktCv32ysz0AC&pg=PA117&lpg=PA117#v=onepage&q&f=false | isbn=1-85285-192-9}}</ref>{{rp|126-129}}
An October 1933 statement by [[Foreign Minister of Germany|Foreign Minister]] [[Konstantin von Neurath]] which falsely claimed in response to the Japanese protests that Japanese were exempt, however, was widely publicized and caused many in Germany, Japan, and elsewhere to believe that such an exemption existed. Instead of a broad exemption, an April 1935 decree stated that racial discrimination cases involving non-Aryans that might jeopardize Germany diplomatic relations&mdash;i.e., Japanese&mdash;would be dealt with individually. Decisions on such cases often took years, with those affected unable to obtain jobs or interracially marry, primarily because the German government preferred as much as possible to avoid giving exemptions. The German government often exempted more German-Japanese than it preferred in order to avoid a repeat of the 1933 controversies, however, and in 1934 it [[Censorship in Nazi Germany|prohibited]] the German press from discussing the race laws when Japanese were involved.<ref name="furuya2000">{{cite book | title=Japanese Prisoners of War | publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group | editor=Towle, Philip; Kosuge, Margaret; Kibata, Yōichi | author=Furuya, Harumi | chapter=Japan's Racial Identity in the Second World War: The Cultural Context of the Japanese Treatment of POWs | year=2000 | pages=117–134 | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=ktCv32ysz0AC&pg=PA117&lpg=PA117#v=onepage&q&f=false | isbn=1-85285-192-9}}</ref>{{rp|126-129}}


=="Honorary Nordic"==
===To the Finns===
A similar concept was used by the Nazis in relation to [[Finland]]. As Germany [[Operation Barbarossa|invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941]], Finland participated in the invasion primarily to recover the territories it was forced to cede to the USSR after the [[Moscow Peace Treaty]] which ended the [[Winter War]] between the Finns and the Soviets.<ref name="rich">Rich, Norman (1974). ''Hitler's War Aims: the Establishment of the New Order'', pp. 400-401. W. W. Norton & Company Inc., New York.</ref> [[Finnish conquest of East Karelia (1941)|Military success]] quickly resulted in the [[Finnish military administration in Eastern Karelia|Finnish occupation of Eastern Karelia]]. Because of their [[Finno-Ugric peoples|Finno-Ugric]] heritage, the [[Finns]] were initially classified by Nazi racial experts as a people unrelated to the other [[Nordic countries]], in spite of a long history of political unity with [[Sweden]]. As a result the [[Swedish-speaking Finns|Swedish-speaking minority of Finland]] was favoured at first over Finnish speakers for recruitment into the [[Finnish Volunteer Battalion of the Waffen-SS|Finnish Volunteer Battalion of the]] [[Waffen-SS]] because they were categorically considered part of the "[[Nordic race]]".<ref>Nieme, Jarto; Pipes, Jason. [http://www.feldgrau.com/articles.php?ID=19 "Finnish Volunteers in the Wehrmacht in WWII"]. ''Feldgrau''. Retrieved 27 September 2011.</ref>
A similar concept was used by the Nazis in relation to [[Finland]]. As Germany [[Operation Barbarossa|invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941]], Finland participated in the invasion primarily to recover the territories it was forced to cede to the USSR after the [[Moscow Peace Treaty]] which ended the [[Winter War]] between the Finns and the Soviets.<ref name="rich">Rich, Norman (1974). ''Hitler's War Aims: the Establishment of the New Order'', pp. 400-401. W. W. Norton & Company Inc., New York.</ref> [[Finnish conquest of East Karelia (1941)|Military success]] quickly resulted in the [[Finnish military administration in Eastern Karelia|Finnish occupation of Eastern Karelia]]. Because of their [[Finno-Ugric peoples|Finno-Ugric]] heritage, the [[Finns]] were initially classified by Nazi racial experts as a people unrelated to the other [[Nordic countries]], in spite of a long history of political unity with [[Sweden]]. As a result the [[Swedish-speaking Finns|Swedish-speaking minority of Finland]] was favoured at first over Finnish speakers for recruitment into the [[Finnish Volunteer Battalion of the Waffen-SS|Finnish Volunteer Battalion of the]] [[Waffen-SS]] because they were categorically considered part of the "[[Nordic race]]".<ref>Nieme, Jarto; Pipes, Jason. [http://www.feldgrau.com/articles.php?ID=19 "Finnish Volunteers in the Wehrmacht in WWII"]. ''Feldgrau''. Retrieved 27 September 2011.</ref>


Revision as of 01:41, 18 July 2012

Honorary Aryan (

Indo-European—races is that the services of those races were deemed valuable to the German economy or war effort,[1]
or simply for other purely political reasons.

Notable ascriptions

To the Jews

The term was sometimes ascribed to certain Jews out of pragmatic considerations. For instance, Jews who had been decorated in World War I by providing military service for the German Empire were unofficially commemorated as "honorary Aryans" and left unmolested.[2]

The term was also sometimes ascribed to certain Jews for personal reasons. For instance, when

SS, was later discovered to have had Jewish ancestors by Heinrich Himmler, he was almost expelled (along with other members of his family) from the SS (in accordance with the new racial purity rules for SS officers that Himmler himself had mandated after becoming Reichsführer-SS),[citation needed] but was pardoned after being informally declared an "honorary Aryan" by Adolf Hitler—a close associate, longtime friend, and fellow prisoner in Landsberg
of his—who came to Maurice's defense, and compelled Himmler to make an exception for Maurice and his brothers, via a secret letter written on August 31, 1935.

Another notable example is Erhard Milch. A half-Jewish Mischling who was issued a German Blood Certificate and declared Aryan by Hitler himself.

To the Japanese

While only certain Jewish individuals were granted the status, the term was ascribed to the entire Japanese people. Adolf Hitler had bestowed the title upon the Japanese following the Anti-Comintern Pact on Communism (signed in 1936), and it seemed that they were granted the status not simply for economic, military, or political reasons, but more so because of their apparent racial integrity. In The Political Testament of Adolf Hitler, Hitler stated,

Pride in one's own race - and that does not imply contempt for other races - is also a normal and healthy sentiment. I have never regarded the Chinese or the Japanese as being inferior to ourselves. They belong to ancient civilizations, and I admit freely that their past history is superior to our own. They have the right to be proud of their past, just as we have the right to be proud of the civilization to which we belong. Indeed, I believe the more steadfast the Chinese and the Japanese remain in their pride of race, the easier I shall find it to get on with them.[3]

Even before the formation of the Axis, Hitler made a number of other statements expressing his respect and admiration for the Japanese in his book Mein Kampf.[4]

Although of a different ethnicity, the Japanese were, in fact, considered by Nazi ideologists such as Heinrich Himmler, as having similar enough qualities with German-Nordic blood to warrant an alliance with them. Himmler, who possessed a great interest in and was influenced by the anthropology, philosophies and pantheistic religions of East Asia, mentioned how his friend Hiroshi Ōshima, the Japanese Ambassador to Germany, believed that the noble castes in Japan, the Daimyo and the Samurai, were descended from gods of celestial origin,[5] which was similar to Himmler's own belief that "the Nordic race did not evolve, but came directly down from heaven to settle on the Atlantic continent."[5]

Herrenvolk of the Orient" (i.e. the "Master race of the Orient").[7]

The Japanese government resisted German attempts to spread political propaganda (i.e., German racial ideology) and impose anti-Jewish hiring practices in Japan. Nonetheless, to Japan, being named by the notoriously racist Germany as "honorary Aryans" was a "coveted gift" for a nation which viewed itself as having become an "honorary white" country. The distinction also supported the Japanese belief that they were superior to other Asians.[8]: 129–130, 132–134 

The approximately 10,000 Japanese nationals who resided in Germany during World War II enjoyed more privileges than any other non-Caucasian ethno-national group under their "honorary Aryan" citizenship. They were still subject to Germany's

Racial Policy Office, opposed the change.[8]
: 123–124 

An October 1933 statement by

Foreign Minister Konstantin von Neurath which falsely claimed in response to the Japanese protests that Japanese were exempt, however, was widely publicized and caused many in Germany, Japan, and elsewhere to believe that such an exemption existed. Instead of a broad exemption, an April 1935 decree stated that racial discrimination cases involving non-Aryans that might jeopardize Germany diplomatic relations—i.e., Japanese—would be dealt with individually. Decisions on such cases often took years, with those affected unable to obtain jobs or interracially marry, primarily because the German government preferred as much as possible to avoid giving exemptions. The German government often exempted more German-Japanese than it preferred in order to avoid a repeat of the 1933 controversies, however, and in 1934 it prohibited the German press from discussing the race laws when Japanese were involved.[8]
: 126–129 

To the Finns

A similar concept was used by the Nazis in relation to

Finnish Volunteer Battalion of the Waffen-SS because they were categorically considered part of the "Nordic race".[10]

Owing to Finland's substantial military contribution on the northern flank of the

Eastern Front of World War II, Hitler decreed in November 1942 that "from now on Finland and the Finnish people be treated and designated as a Nordic state and a Nordic people", which he considered one of the highest compliments that the Nazi government could bestow upon another country.[9]

See also

References

  1. The Nation
    Vol. 147, Issue 7. August 13, 1938
  2. ^ Enzyklopädie des Nationalsozialismus (hrsg. Wolfgang Benz u. a.), 5. Auflage München 2007, ISBN 978-3-423-34408-1, S. 483.
  3. ^ The Political Testament of Adolf Hitler, Note #5, (February - April 1945)
  4. ^ pp. 141,158,274,290-291, 637-640 Ralph Manheim Translation, Mariner paperback edition
  5. ^ a b The Activities of Dr. Ernst Schaefer, OI - Final Interrogation Report (OI-FIR) No. 32, Secret - United States Forces European Theater Military Intelligence Service Center APO 757, February 12, 1946, pg. 4.
  6. ^ The Swastika and the Nazi's, Servando González, Chapter 2: The Haushofer Connection, 1997-1998.
  7. ^ The Spear of Destiny: The occult power behind the spear which pierced the side of Christ and how Hitler inverted the force in a bid to conquer the world, Trevor Ravenscroft, p. 229, June 1982.
  8. ^
    ISBN 1-85285-192-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link
    )
  9. ^ a b Rich, Norman (1974). Hitler's War Aims: the Establishment of the New Order, pp. 400-401. W. W. Norton & Company Inc., New York.
  10. ^ Nieme, Jarto; Pipes, Jason. "Finnish Volunteers in the Wehrmacht in WWII". Feldgrau. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
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