# How could Hitler have promoted Aryan superiority when he doesn't look Aryan? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 16, 2007, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-hitler-have-promoted-aryan-superiority-when-he-doesnt-look-aryan/411991 "2007-07-16T16:01:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-hitler-have-promoted-aryan-superiority-when-he-doesnt-look-aryan/411991/1 "2007-07-16T16:01:05Z")
Inspired by the thread about living in [Nazi Germany](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=428908) , which referenced being an “Aryan”, I’ve always had this question: If Nazi’s promoted Aryans as the Master Race, and if Aryans are blond haired and blue eyed, then how could people believe this mantra when it came from a dark-haired man (Hitler)? Why didn’t his obvious “non-Aryanism” make him a total laughingstock? Or, at the least, why didn’t those who believed his propaganda dismiss him as a sub-human? ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-hitler-have-promoted-aryan-superiority-when-he-doesnt-look-aryan/411991/2 "2007-07-16T17:00:48Z")
[Hypocrisy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypocrisy) ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-hitler-have-promoted-aryan-superiority-when-he-doesnt-look-aryan/411991/3 "2007-07-16T17:03:30Z")
It’s a perfect case of the Emperors New Clothes. Nobody wanted to point out that the leader did not qualify for his own criteria. Especially if they wanted to keep breathing. But many, many germans (perhaps the majority) do not meet the Ken-doll ideal. I’ve met more red headed germans than blondes. To exclude them from participation in fascism would have cut the heart out of almost all support the nazis had. Very little nazi ideology stands up to even the most basic criticism. I can’t think of anything at all about their principles that can be proven, but I won’t make an absolute statement without proof. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-hitler-have-promoted-aryan-superiority-when-he-doesnt-look-aryan/411991/4 "2007-07-16T17:11:54Z")
Just as a nitpick in regards to Nazi racial ideology, as inconsidtant as it was. Blond hair and blue eyes is a Nordic trait, more than an Aryan one. The Nordics were an Aryan subrace occupying Scandanavia and northern Germany, and had, as racial traits, blond hair, blue eyes, and tended to be tall and thin. Hitler, being from Austria/Southern German, would be of the Dinaric or Alpine type. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_British\_Shop\_Owner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@Small\_British\_Shop\_Owner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_British_Shop_Owner)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-hitler-have-promoted-aryan-superiority-when-he-doesnt-look-aryan/411991/5 "2007-07-16T17:11:37Z")
[QUOTE=Hypno-Toad] Very little nazi ideology stands up to even the most basic criticism. I can’t think of anything at all about their principles that can be proven, but I won’t make an absolute statement without proof. [/QUOTE] Well there are subtle differnces between races… ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-hitler-have-promoted-aryan-superiority-when-he-doesnt-look-aryan/411991/6 "2007-07-16T17:42:49Z")
Can’t find a good cite offhand, but I believe that they depended a good deal on the size and shape of the skull. They had five or six categories, of which three were “acceptable” and could join the Party and the SS, while the rest were not. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-hitler-have-promoted-aryan-superiority-when-he-doesnt-look-aryan/411991/7 "2007-07-16T17:53:21Z")
What Hitler had going for him was charisma. He was one of the great politicians of all time (that’s NOT a compliment BTW). And he knew how to market a product. It just so happens that his product was hate, an easy sell. ☹ Blame those other people “over there” for your problems. It’s OK to kill them, they are not human like us. Once “they” cease to exist the world will be beautiful. Using the Ayran people as an example in his marketing stragity is like using big titted, blonds to sell beer. It has nothing to do with what the product does for you, it’s a hook. Buy this product and you will be beautiful as well. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-hitler-have-promoted-aryan-superiority-when-he-doesnt-look-aryan/411991/8 "2007-07-16T17:54:33Z")
Cecil on [Who were the Aryans?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_269.html) ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-hitler-have-promoted-aryan-superiority-when-he-doesnt-look-aryan/411991/9 "2007-07-16T17:58:11Z")
“Funny, you don’t _look_ Aryan.” ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-hitler-have-promoted-aryan-superiority-when-he-doesnt-look-aryan/411991/10 "2007-07-16T18:07:22Z")
[QUOTE=Small British Shop Owner] Well there are subtle differnces between races… [/QUOTE] I don’t believe there are any physical markers that definitely identify race with any degree of certainty. In fact[the whole concept of race is suspect.](http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/biology/b103/f00/web2/ramon2.html) > [@](#): > > In the past, races were identified by the imposition of discrete boundaries upon continuous and often discordant biological variation. The concept of race is therefore a historical construct and not one that provides either valid classification or an explanatory process. Human physical variation is a continuum with a lot of overlapping across the boundries of what used to be known as separate “races.” I realize the cite is from one of those effete, eastern colleges, Bryn Mawr, but it seems to reflect the consensus of the biological scientists. ---
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-hitler-have-promoted-aryan-superiority-when-he-doesnt-look-aryan/411991/11 "2007-07-16T18:23:03Z")
> [@](#): > > How could Hitler have promoted Aryan superiority when he doesn’t look Aryan? Because he had a REALLY GOOD propaganda minister. (And by REALLY GOOD, I mean EVIL, of course…) ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-hitler-have-promoted-aryan-superiority-when-he-doesnt-look-aryan/411991/12 "2007-07-16T18:27:17Z")
[QUOTE=Small British Shop Owner] Well there are subtle differnces between races… [/QUOTE] Yeah, but that was twisted to fit whatever was needed when it came to policy. Hitler declared that the Japanese were “Yellow Aryans” when it came time to justify the German-Japanese alliance. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-hitler-have-promoted-aryan-superiority-when-he-doesnt-look-aryan/411991/13 "2007-07-16T18:28:00Z")
[QUOTE=Si Amigo] What Hitler had going for him was charisma. He was one of the great politicians of all time (that’s NOT a compliment BTW). And he knew how to market a product. It just so happens that his product was hate, an easy sell. ☹ Blame those other people “over there” for your problems. It’s OK to kill them, they are not human like us. Once “they” cease to exist the world will be beautiful. Using the Ayran people as an example in his marketing stragity is like using big titted, blonds to sell beer. It has nothing to do with what the product does for you, it’s a hook. Buy this product and you will be beautiful as well. [/QUOTE] Cecil mentioned the Compte de Gobineau in the cited column. Since the Compte placed Aryans at the top of the human heap, and he identified blue-eyed blond Teutons as the closest to the ideal Aryan Gobineau’s ideas were exceedingly popular in Germany and Gobineau Societies sprang up all over. An English expatriot, Huston Steward Chamberlain expanded on the idea of racial superiority in a book _Foundations Of The Nineteenth Century_ which leaned heavily on the idea of categorizing races and keeping the Aryan race pure. Chamberlain was composer Richard Wagner’s son-in-law and Hitler spent quite a bit of time at Wagner’s residence. So Hitler had a ready-made audience for his Aryan Superiority theme and apparently had absorbed a lot of such nonsense about Aryans and racial “purity” early on. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-hitler-have-promoted-aryan-superiority-when-he-doesnt-look-aryan/411991/14 "2007-07-17T00:57:17Z")
Would \*\*\*you \*\*\*want to be the guy to go up to Hitler and ask, “Excuse me, Führer, but you look more Jewish than Aryan.”? ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-hitler-have-promoted-aryan-superiority-when-he-doesnt-look-aryan/411991/15 "2007-07-17T01:25:32Z")
::shrug:: Phyllis Schlafly made a public political career out of explaining why women should not orient themselves towards having public and/or political careers. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-hitler-have-promoted-aryan-superiority-when-he-doesnt-look-aryan/411991/16 "2007-07-17T03:11:58Z")
David Simmons writes: \> . . . and Hitler spent quite a bit of time at Wagner’s residence. So is he that guy with the little mustache who keeps banging on my door? Oh, you mean Richard Wagner. O.K., I see. Please note that Wagner died six years before Hitler was born, so Hitler was associating with Chamberlain and Wagner’s daughter, not with Wagner. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-hitler-have-promoted-aryan-superiority-when-he-doesnt-look-aryan/411991/17 "2007-07-17T03:39:04Z")
[QUOTE=Wendell Wagner] David Simmons writes: \> . . . and Hitler spent quite a bit of time at Wagner’s residence. So is he that guy with the little mustache who keeps banging on my door? Oh, you mean Richard Wagner. O.K., I see. Please note that Wagner died six years before Hitler was born, so Hitler was associating with Chamberlain and Wagner’s daughter, not with Wagner. [/QUOTE] I should have said the Wagner residence at Bayreuth. Wagner did write some antisemitic works and Hitler was an admirer of his music, especially the heroic stories of the glorious Nordic/Teutonic folk heroes. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-hitler-have-promoted-aryan-superiority-when-he-doesnt-look-aryan/411991/18 "2007-07-17T04:49:13Z")
Charlie Chaplin asked the same question in his 1940 movie The Great Dictator: > [@](#): > > Adenoid Hynkel: How wonderful! Tomania, a nation of blue-eyed blondes. > Garbitsch: Why not a blonde Europe, Asia, America? > Adenoid Hynkel: Blonde world… > Garbitsch: And a brunette dictator. > Adenoid Hynkel: Dictator of the world! ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-hitler-have-promoted-aryan-superiority-when-he-doesnt-look-aryan/411991/19 "2007-07-17T05:06:04Z")
It’s easy to just call it shallow hypocrisy and not look any deeper into the question, but it doesn’t tell the whole truth. Nazis weren’t hostile to all non-Aryans. They wanted to create a master race out of what they thought were the best human traits, not necessarily condemn anyone who didn’t have those traits already. Hardly anyone met the Nazi Aryan ideal. It was a goal that the Nazi eugenics program was working toward. Nazi hostility to fringe groups like Jews and the mentally ill has almost nothing to do with their desire to create a eugenic master race. They hated Jews for being Jews, not because they weren’t blond. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-hitler-have-promoted-aryan-superiority-when-he-doesnt-look-aryan/411991/20 "2007-07-17T05:18:26Z")
I can’t remember who it was (Herblock?), but a political cartoonist during WWII pointed out the Aryan traits as exemplified by Nazi leaders – as blonde as Hitler, as slim as Göring, and as tall as Goebbels. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-hitler-have-promoted-aryan-superiority-when-he-doesnt-look-aryan/411991.md?page=2)