Baltic Eugenics

The history of eugenics in the Baltic States is largely unknown. The book compares for the first time the eugenic projects of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and the related disciplines of racial anthropology and psychiatry, and situates them within the wider European context. Strong ethno-nationalism defined the nation as a biological group, which was fostered by authoritarian regimes established in Lithuania in 1926, and in Estonia and Latvia in 1934. The eugenics projects were designed to establish a nation in biological terms. Their aims were to render the nation ethnically, genetically and racially homogeneous. The main agenda was a non-democratic state that defined its population in biological terms. Eugenic policies were to regenerate the nation and to reconstruct it as a “pure” and “original” race, Such schemes for national regeneration contained strong elements of secular religion.

“[a] path-breaking collection … The historical research presented in the essays in Baltic Eugenics is a sound first step both in terms of their findings and their laying out the need for future work. “
Slavic Review, Vol. 73, No. 4

”an excellent source on the role of eugenics in the formation of science, medicine, and public policy in the three countries.” in: The Russian Review, Vol. 73, No. 2, April 2014