'Real National Work': The Politics of Nazi Race Science in Upper Silesia, 1934–1942.

This article examines the political and scientific controversy surrounding anthropologist Egon Freiherr von Eickstedt’s race science project on Upper Silesia during National Socialism. Beginning in 1934, Eickstedt’s team conducted extensive racial surveys aiming to demonstrate that Upper Silesia’s population was predominantly Nordic and thus fundamentally German, countering Polish anthropologists’ claims of Slavic racial affiliation. However, Nazi officials grew alarmed when the studies revealed significant racial mixing, with Nordic elements comprising less than 40 percent in some areas, fearing this could undermine territorial claims and national unity. The ensuing debate highlighted deep disagreements within Nazi Germany over the definition and use of race, revealing that concepts of race and Volk (people or nation) were not always aligned and that Nazi race science was marked by methodological disputes and political sensitivities rather than uniformity. The case of the Silesian studies illustrates the contested and context-dependent nature of racial science under the Third Reich, challenging the notion of a coherent and monolithic Nazi racial ideology.