Official Statistics and Demography in the Third Reich

TL;DRAbstract

The production and utilization of population data during the Third Reich are themes which have attracted increasing attention from historians, social scientists and demographers, whether in the context of understanding how population science was rapidly transformed into race hygiene or the specific use of population data systems in planning and implementing the final solution1. The Nazi seizure of power led to a rehabilitation of the work of the statistical offices, both at Reich and Länder level, particularly in comparison with the negative impact of enforced savings programmes in the pre-1933 era, while the noticeable expansion in the collation of statistical data served as a basis for greater state control over the individual and a more effective regulation of both economic and social activities. Although the role of the statistical offices between 1933 and 1945 undoubtedly raises important questions concerning the dividing line between science and ideology, as well as the social co

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