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Pavlov signed ALS to Eugenics founder Leon Whitney, which was studied for use in World War II
Pavlov signed ALS to Eugenics founder Leon Whitney, which was studied for use in World War II
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Pavlov Ivan

Pavlov signed ALS to Eugenics founder Leon Whitney, which was studied for use in World War II. Bi-fold ALS, 5" x 7.75", on letterhead of "The Chemists' Club, 52 East 41st Street, New York. Written entirely by Ivan Pavlov in German, one of the many languages he was proficient in. Signed by Ivan Pavlov as "I Pavlov". Dated "6 Sept" most likely circa early late 1920s to early 1930s. Written on recto of the first page with the balance of the pages blank. Horizontal fold, else near fine.

Pavlov writes a simple letter of thanks to one of the founders of the American Eugenics Society, Leon Whitney, shown in full below:

"Esteemed Mr. Whitney

I wish to thank you for the kind invitation by your dear wife and yourself. Regretfully I was unable to attend. I shall be reading your brochure at home and subsequently be discussing it with you in writing. / Devotedly yours, I Pavlov".

It is hard to really to fully grasp the position Leon Whitney played in the world of science, government and politics. But few are aware his writings and philosophies were closely followed in the late 1920's by the Germans in World War II. At that time they had followed the writings of Leon Whitney, then Executive Secretary of the American Eugenics Society, along with Madison Grant, both of whom who extolled the Nordic race and bemoaned its “corruption” by Jews, blacks, Slavs and others who did not possess blond hair and blue eyes. A fan letter was even sent to Grant who had written the book "The Passing of the Great Race": “Mistaken regard for what are believed to be divine laws and a sentimental belief in the sanctity of human life tend to prevent both the elimination of defective infants and the sterilization of such adults as are themselves of no value to the community. The laws of nature require the obliteration of the unfit and human life is valuable only when it is of use to the community or race."

Shortly after, in the early 1930s, German military was writing to both Whitney and Grant espousing that Grant's book "The Passing of the Great Race" was considered a “Bible”.

Germany displayed a knowledge of American eugenics in much of their writings and conversation. For example, it was declared: “The demand that defective people be prevented from propagating equally defective offspring is a demand of clearest reason and, if systematically executed, represents the most humane act of mankind. It will spare millions of unfortunates undeserved sufferings, and consequently will lead to a rising improvement of health as a whole.” Germany closely followed American eugenic legislation. "Now that we know the laws of heredity … it is possible to a large extent to prevent unhealthy and severely handicapped beings from coming into the world. (we) have studied with interest the laws of several American states concerning prevention of reproduction by people whose progeny would, in all probability, be of no value or be injurious to the racial stock." And of course World War II took it to an all new level.

This Pavlov ALS was written during this era. Pavlov had died in February 1936, in advance of WWII but well after the Master Race quest was coming into prominence. Although the nature of the relationship between Pavlov and Whitney is unclear it may have been one born out of the love for the exploration of human science. Pavlov was the metaphorical founder of the exploration into the response of "conditioning", a key concept in the developing specialism of comparative psychology, and the general approach to psychology that underlay it, behaviorism. Pavlov's work with classical conditioning was of huge influence to how humans perceive themselves, their behavior and learning processes and his studies of classical conditioning continue to be central to modern behavior therapy. Conversely, Whitney was the founder of Eugenics, the intent of which was less about training behavior and more about controlling it through it Eugenics. However their relationship was most likely enhanced due to their mutual interest in dogs (Pavlov's conditioning experiments were on dogs and Leon Whitney was a veterinarian, and a prolific writer on veterinary and other topics, including a student of genetics and the results of selective breeding.

However the result of the American movement in Eugenics lead to an infamous 1927 decision by the Supreme Court, when Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote, "It is better for all the world, if instead of waiting to execute degenerate offspring for crime, or to let them starve for their imbecility, society can prevent those who are manifestly unfit from continuing their kind . . . Three generations of imbeciles are enough." From that point on we all know how this snowball grew. Only after eugenics became entrenched in the United States was the campaign transplanted into Germany, in no small measure through the efforts of California eugenicists, who published booklets idealizing sterilization and circulated them to German officials and scientists. Germany studied American eugenics laws and tried to legitimize anti- Semitism by medicalizing it, and wrapping it in the more palatable pseudoscientific facade of eugenics. The German efforts were able to recruit more followers among reasonable citizens by claiming that science was on their side. Perhaps the regime's race hatred sprung from the mind of one, but the intellectual outlines of the eugenics adopted in 1924 were made in America.

An incredible letter, but little did Leon Whitney know at the time, just how his research would take hold and destroy millions of lives. Although it was too late, Whitney later declared of the philosophies of WWII, "While we were pussy-footing around ... the Germans were calling a spade a spade."

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