Kaiser Wilhelm Institute lantern slide collection

The collection of lantern slides and boxes is from the holdings of the former Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in Berlin. This Institute for anthropology and genetics was one of many centers used for the study of eugenics during the Third Reich. Aside from ordering sterilization and other eugenic "procedures," medical experiments originating in euthenasia killing centers and concentration camps were also evaluated at the Institute. Such names as Von Verschuer, Fischer, and Mengele are associated with the Institute. The slides contained in the boxes were probably used for teaching purposes. The slides contained information used to back up so-called eugenic and racial theories prevalent during the Third Reich. The Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in Berlin was disbanded after World War II. In 1952, the Institute for Human Genetics at the University of Muenster was founded and appointed Dr. Otmar Von Verschuer as its director; as the former director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute, he brought with him a large number of books and materials. An employee of the Institute, Dr. Irmgard Nippert, saved the boxes and slides from being disposed.