Fortuitous Moment
Racial Anthropology in Eastern Europe since 1914
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
The First World War was a special “moment of glory” in racial anthropology. Overflowing prisoner of war camps offered ample opportunity for anthropological research. German and Austrian scientists used the chance to measure the members of various nationalities in large numbers, particularly those from the Tsarist Empire and Southeast Europe. But anthropologists from East Central Europe also actively participated in these investigations. In the states that were newly founded after the First World War, racial anthropology gained considerably in importance. It was precisely in Europe’s East that this research tradition initially experienced its strongest development in the interwar era.
(Osteuropa 1-2/2017, pp. 79–87)