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The nazi learning of races was far more complex than just judging someone from their haircolor. They measured different features of the skull, and other bodily features were important to the Nazis.
The highest race that corrosponded to the ideal Aryan was the Nordic race according to their ideas. But even Waffen SS had divisions that were Muslim and Slavic.
Without delving into the extreme particulars of Nazi racial ideology it is pretty much an urban myth that only people with blond hair and blue eyes were considred "Aryan" and part of the "master race". Much of this has to do with the stated ideal aka Nordic with light skin, hair and eyes and the attempts to create a superior racial stock.
The quick and dirty of Nazi racial ideology finds itself rooted in the work of Arthur Schopenhauer, Alfred Rosenberg and Hans Gunther among others involved in racial theory that was popular in the 19th and early 20th century. The direct ideas basically blend two somewhat different schools of thought into a unique form of racial ideology.
Aryan's aka Proto-Indo Europeans were considered the innately superior branch of humanity. There are multiple theories on their origin, but the one seemingly favord by the Nazi's is that the Aryan's existed on a now lost landmass off of Northern Europe (possibly Atlantis) in pre-history. They then migrated into the Northern German Plains and then moved south east into the Ukraine, Iran and India. Along the way they spawned civilization and in Iran and India founded the Zoroastrianism and Hinduism cultures.
Among those early Aryan's who created the "Caucasoid race" one could identify three subgroups: Nordic, Alpine and Mediteranean. Of these the Nordic was the closest to the original Aryan and most pure. The Nordic featured blond hair, blue eyes, etc. Of all the peoples considered Aryan, the Germanic peoples were the most "Nordic" along with those in Scandanavia.
Depending on the "theorist" and the time period, the term Aryan and Nordic were often used interchangably but this was not necessarily the view held by the Nazi's and was not always the dominant thought. Nordicism was highly popular in Germany even before the Nazi's took power and represented a racial ideal. As the Nazi's took power, though they preached and presented Nordic as an ideal, they did not show it to be inherently "superior" instead preferring to view all "Aryans" which included Nordics, Alpines and Mediteraneans with their various features as being the "master race". The most likely reason is that the "Greater Germany" contained many Aryan's that were not of the Nordic ideal, not the least of which was Hitler himself.
So, under the Nazi's, Nordic features became a sort of idealistic image but was not itself commenserate with one's place in the Reich or social standing. While Hitler was quite smitten with Nordic superiority in his early years, by 1939 he had very much backed off that stance instead embracing the idea of a "united spirit" of the Germanic/Aryan peoples. On the side, programs like the Lebensborn made some attempt to promoting the expansion of the Nordic racial ideal and the creation of a purer Aryan race by increasing the Nordic stock.
I recall reading in high school (many, many, many years ago), that Hitler regarded himself as being a member of the Aryan Alpine sub-race. There were the Nordics, the Alpines, and I forget what else.
The Alpines were supposedly shorter of stature, broader, with somewhat darker skin than the Nordics, but not as dark as the Mediterraneans, and often had dark hair.
I do wonder in the countires they invaded, if many darker people were mistakened for Jews and taken to concentration camps. While Nazi Germany itself long had laws identifying Jews I'm sure not all the other countries had documentation saying who was Jewish and who wasn't.
I do wonder in the countires they invaded, if many darker people were mistakened for Jews and taken to concentration camps. While Nazi Germany itself long had laws identifying Jews I'm sure not all the other countries had documentation saying who was Jewish and who wasn't.
Even without documentation, many Jews in other countries lived in relatively insular communities or were simply known as being Jewish by their neighbors. Jewish communities via synagogues also kept extensive records on who the members of the community were and things as basic as marriage licenses and birth records even then identified religious preference and who performed the ceremonies.
So, basic identification wasn't necessarily hard and the Nazi's instituted laws requiring Jews to identify themselves (yellow stars) in most countries they occupied and forced Jews to move into ghettos in many cases. There were some examples where such requirements were followed and others where there was resistance such as in Denmark.
The Germans used the Mischling Test developed under the Nuremberg Laws to determine who was and wasn't a Jew and to what degree they were considered a Jew. There were also reportedly efforts to develop a blood test, but that met with obvious failure. In some cases they also attempted to use measuring devices and look at physical traits to identify people. When it came to men and boys, a cruder method was to see whether or not they were circumsized.
So, the basic answer is they used any and every method and source of data possible to try and identify Jews.
Germans are the Biblical Assyrians. Their Biblical ancestor is/was Asshur (from Shem). The were called Asshurmen/ Asshurman. When they migrated into Europe, the Greeks in the Greek tongue called them Shurman - 'German' ! .... As, they migrated into a colder climate, their skin and hair color 'faded'. --- Many true Germans maintain their darker skin tone and hair color. - In Biblical times. they were Extreme in warfare and barbarious treatment to their enemies. They were also known for rounding up or capturing other tribes/nations and transferring them to different areas. ..... When Germany first rounded up ( the people who call themselves 'Jews') - they intended to reassign them to another country / territory. - But, ...
Strangely, even though the Nazi's considered the Polish racially inferior - and almost completely destroyed their capital Warsaw with bombing - the honor-roll below has names such as Grzmalla, Kaminski, Kozlowski, Kowalski, Kroschinski, Krupinski, Nowotny, Wischnewski, Laskowski, Michaski . What on earth were these flyers thinking, to fight for Nazi Germany ?
Strangely, even though the Nazi's considered the Polish racially inferior - and almost completely destroyed their capital Warsaw with bombing - the honor-roll below has names such as Grzmalla, Kaminski, Kozlowski, Kowalski, Kroschinski, Krupinski, Nowotny, Wischnewski, Laskowski, Michaski . What on earth were these flyers thinking, to fight for Nazi Germany ?
Strangely, even though the Nazi's considered the Polish racially inferior - and almost completely destroyed their capital Warsaw with bombing - the honor-roll below has names such as Grzmalla, Kaminski, Kozlowski, Kowalski, Kroschinski, Krupinski, Nowotny, Wischnewski, Laskowski, Michaski . What on earth were these flyers thinking, to fight for Nazi Germany ?
The Nazi's didn't consider every Pole or everyone with a Polish name to be the same. Ethnic minorities in Poland such as Silesians, Kashubians, Masurians and Pomeranians were considered to be "Volksdeutche" and "almost German". There was also a large Polish minority that lived in the Ruhr region that emigrated there in the 1800's. These Poles were considered "Germanized" and hence weren't a problem even though many of them had Polish names.
"Volksdeutche" communities existed throughout eastern Europe; in Poland, the Baltic States, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia and even Romania and Russia. The Nazi's traced the lineage of these communities back to either Teutonic colonies in the 13th century or resettlement of Germans for the purpose of colonization in more recent times. These people according to the Nazi's numbered in the millions and were conferred special status and rights. The only downfall was that such a status made you eligible for service in the military. For this reason you can see many varied "ethnic" names in the German military.
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