Robert Ritter
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Robert Ritter (14 May 1901 – 15 April 1951) was a German
racial scientist Scientific racism, sometimes termed biological racism, is the pseudoscience, pseudoscientific belief that empirical evidence exists to support or justify racism (racial discrimination), racial inferiority, or racial superiority.. "Few tragedies ...
doctor of psychology and medicine, with a background in
child psychiatry Child and adolescent psychiatry (or pediatric psychiatry) is a branch of psychiatry that focuses on the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental disorders in children, adolescents, and their families. It investigates the biopsychosocial fact ...
and the biology of criminality. In 1936, Ritter was appointed head of the Racial Hygiene and Demographic Biology Research Unit of
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
's Criminal Police, to establish the genealogical histories of the German "Gypsies", both
Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...
and
Sinti The Sinti (also ''Sinta'' or ''Sinte''; masc. sing. ''Sinto''; fem. sing. ''Sintesa'') are a subgroup of Romani people mostly found in Germany and Central Europe that number around 200,000 people. They were traditionally itinerant, but today o ...
, and became the "architect of the experiments Roma and Sinti were subjected to."The Guardian, 27 October 201
nazi directives accounts and directives go on display
/ref> His pseudo-scientific "research" in classifying these populations of Germany aided the Nazi government in their systematic persecution toward a goal of "
racial purity The term racial hygiene was used to describe an approach to eugenics in the early 20th century, which found its most extensive implementation in Nazi Germany (Nazi eugenics). It was marked by efforts to avoid miscegenation, analogous to an animal ...
".


Early life

Ritter was born in 1901 in
Aachen Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...
, Germany. He attended an exclusive secondary school, as well as a
Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
n military academy. After a stint in the German ''
Freikorps (, "Free Corps" or "Volunteer Corps") were irregular German and other European military volunteer units, or paramilitary, that existed from the 18th to the early 20th centuries. They effectively fought as mercenary or private armies, regar ...
'', Ritter began his formal education studying at various universities. In 1927, Ritter received his doctorate in educational psychology at the
University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's List of universities in Germany, sixth-oldest u ...
. Post-doctorate, Ritter continued his education and received a medical degree from
Heidelberg University } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...
in 1930, and was medically licensed the same year. In 1934, two years before being appointed as head of the German police's racial hygiene research unit, Ritter received his specialist certification in child
psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...
, studying the inheritability of
criminality In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Can ...
. He completed part of his residence in the
University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Wü ...
.


Career


Ritter and the Sterilization Law of 1933

Nazi seizure of power in 1933 allowed the party to transform their ideology of racial purity into policy. The
Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring (german: Gesetz zur Verhütung erbkranken Nachwuchses) or "Sterilisation Law" was a statute in Nazi Germany enacted on July 14, 1933, (and made active in January 1934) which allowed the com ...
was put into effect New Year's Day, 1934, and included
compulsory sterilization Compulsory sterilization, also known as forced or coerced sterilization, is a government-mandated program to involuntarily sterilize a specific group of people. Sterilization removes a person's capacity to reproduce, and is usually done throug ...
of individuals who, according to medical knowledge, were likely to pass on to their offspring a serious physical or mental disorder. Besides a diagnosed medical disorder, citizens would also be sterilized for being classified as
asocial Asociality refers to the lack of motivation to engage in Social relation, social interaction, or a preference for solitary activities. Asociality may be associated with avolition, but it can, moreover, be a manifestation of limited opportunities ...
. An asocial diagnosis was often associated with having "moral" or "disguised mental retardation", despite showing no deficit in intelligence. Ritter was responsible for the invention of "disguised mental retardation". According to Ritter, individuals, especially children with this alleged disorder displayed certain independence and cunning and were quick talkers. "Disguised mental retardation" supposedly carried a mask of cleverness, which the
pseudo-scientific Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable claim ...
medical specialists characterized as mental retardation: if they couldn't actually observe and demonstrate a mental problem, they simply insisted it was present anyway, and that evidence of its opposite was some kind of trick. The Nazi government used this alleged disorder as a justification to sterilize an estimated 500
Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...
and
Sinti The Sinti (also ''Sinta'' or ''Sinte''; masc. sing. ''Sinto''; fem. sing. ''Sintesa'') are a subgroup of Romani people mostly found in Germany and Central Europe that number around 200,000 people. They were traditionally itinerant, but today o ...
individuals between 1933 and 1939.


Methods of research

The task of the ''Rassenhygienische und Bevolkerungsbiologische Forschungsstelle'' ( en, Racial Hygiene and Demographic Biology Research Unit), a division of the ''
Kriminalpolizei ''Kriminalpolizei'' (, "criminal police") is the standard term for the criminal investigation agency within the police forces of Germany, Austria, and the German-speaking cantons of Switzerland. In Nazi Germany, the Kripo was the criminal polic ...
'' (Criminal Police), was to identify and categorize all
Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...
and
Sinti The Sinti (also ''Sinta'' or ''Sinte''; masc. sing. ''Sinto''; fem. sing. ''Sintesa'') are a subgroup of Romani people mostly found in Germany and Central Europe that number around 200,000 people. They were traditionally itinerant, but today o ...
people in Germany according to racial standards. Ritter, heading this organization, had a team of other racial scientists including Eva Justin, Adolf Wurth, Sophie Ehrhardt, and Ruth Kellermann. By 1937, the Research Unit was working with the Central Office of Reich Security, and the Reich Ministry of Interior, to travel across Germany in units to register "full-blooded" and "mixed-race" Roma or Sinti. The units referenced church records to track individuals' genealogies. As some of Ritter's assistants spoke Romani, they would interrogate Roma individuals who could not provide paper proof of their racial identity. Anyone who balked was threatened with incarceration. Along with tracking
genealogies Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinsh ...
, the units photographed their subjects, took
blood samples In medicine, venipuncture or venepuncture is the process of obtaining intravenous access for the purpose of venous blood sampling (also called ''phlebotomy'') or intravenous therapy. In healthcare, this procedure is performed by medical labo ...
, and made
anthropometric Anthropometry () refers to the measurement of the human individual. An early tool of physical anthropology, it has been used for identification, for the purposes of understanding human physical variation, in paleoanthropology and in various atte ...
measurements. Ritter wanted the data to prove that the Roma and Sinti populations were
genetically Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar working in ...
pre-disposed to crime as a " lesser race".


Ritter in post-Nazi Germany

Despite the
Denazification Denazification (german: link=yes, Entnazifizierung) was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of the Nazi ideology following the Second World War. It was carried out by remov ...
of Germany after World War II, Ritter was not required to take responsibility for his actions towards the Roma and Sinti population during Nazi rule. All investigations against Ritter were discontinued. Ritter was hired to teach criminal biology at the University of Tübingen from 1944 to 1946, and was later brought in by the Frankfurt Health Office as a
pediatrician Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until the ...
. He hired his former assistant, Eva Justin, to work with him as a psychologist.


References

*Crowe, David M. (1994). ''A History of the Gypsies of Eastern Europe and Russia''. New York: St. Martin's Press. *Kenrick, Donald; Puxon, Grattan (2009). ''Gypsies Under the Swastika''. University of Hertfordshire Press. *Friedlander, Henry (1989). ''The Origins of Nazi Genocide: From Euthanasia to the Final Solution''. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina. *Lewy, Guenter (1999). "Himmler and the 'Racially Pure Gypsies'". ''Journal of Contemporary History'' vol. 34, no. 2, pp. 201–214. *Lewy, Guenter (2000). ''Nazi Persecution of the Gypsies''. Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press. *Milton, Sybil (1994). "Holocaust: The Gypsies", pp. 209–265. ''Genocide in the Twentieth Century'', eds. William S. Parsons, Israel W. Charny, Samuel Totten. Garland Publishing. * *Tebbutt, Susan (1998). ''Sinti and Roma: Gypsies in German-Speaking Society and Literature''. Berghahn Books.


External links


Dr. Robert Ritter: Racial Science And "Gypsies"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ritter, Robert 1901 births German psychologists 1951 deaths Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni Heidelberg University alumni Romani genocide perpetrators Proponents of scientific racism 20th-century Freikorps personnel 20th-century psychologists