R. Walther Darré

 Reich Minister for Nutrition and Agriculture and

the Myth of Blut & Boden

"Ricardo" Walther Darré was born in Argentina on 14 July 1895 in a  Buenos Aires neighbourhood known as Belgrano. His father was German and his mother a mix of German & Swedish descent.

His parents sent him back to Germany at age nine, to attend school in Heidelberg; in 1911 he was sent as an exchange pupil to King's College School in Wimbledon. The rest of the family returned to Germany in 1912.

As a young man in Germany, Darré initially joined the Artamans, a Volkish youth group who were committed to returning to the land. It was here that Darré was exposed to the teachings of Karl Haushofer, a founder of "geopolitics" and one of the leaders of  the Artaman group.

Haushofer proposed some of the original philosophies which gave birth to the German policy of "Lebensraum" and the theory of Blut und Boden" or "Blood and Soil". The essence of this theory was the mutual and long-term relationship between a people and the land that it occupies and cultivates.

Nazi propaganda drew heavily on these types of rural mysticism, and the concept of 'blood and soil' that arose in reaction to  the rapid industrialisation and urbanisation in Germany from the late nineteenth century onward. It was especially  popular among farming groups disadvantaged by the industrial expansion.

The Traditional rural virtues of loyalty, morality and racial purity were to guarantee a stable, hierarchical community in which all knew their place. As well, the idealised 'peasant nobility' would serve as an antidote to the cosmopolitan, sophisticated, urban, Jewish, intellectuals.

In 1933 Germany had an estimated six million unemployed. Like his contemporaries in the capitals and governments of the world-and like so many politicians today, Hitler had little interest in economics and, in fact, was totally ignorant of economic theory.

Read the full story here: http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/economics/darre.html

The Holocaust Education & Archive Research Team

www.HolocaustResearchProject.org


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