Skip to main content

About a Nazi anthropologist who tried to trace Aryan race among Tibetans

Counterview Desk 
A Facebook page, titled “Silk and Steel”, has revealed something astonishing: How a Nazi anthropologist went as far away as Tibet in order to find traces of Aryan civilisation! Introducing itself as “a podcast about China and Silk Road, history, culture and current events” with the web address https://www.patreon.com/silknsteel, this is what it says:
***
Nazi anthropologist Bruno Berger on 1938-39 Nazi expedition to Tibet sponsored by Heinrich Himmler, measuring Tibetan skulls to find trace of ancient Aryans...
They’re trying to verify Nazi theory that a group of pure blood Aryans had settled in Tibet. They believed that Tibetan aristocracy still retained ancient Aryan bloodline.
Later Berger tried to get access to skulls of executed Soviet Jewish commissars on the Eastern Front but failed due to logistics. So he participated in selecting 100 Jewish prisoners of Auschwitz to be killed for Jewish skeleton collection. He was convicted in 1971 for being an accomplice in the murder of 86 Jews. He served three year  probation.
He reinvented himself as a friend of Dalai Lama and Tibet, his memoir of 1938 Nazi expedition got quoted by Tibetan government in Exile website. He died in 2009.

Comments

TRENDING

Neville Cardus: The man who turned cricket writing into poetry

By Harsh Thakor*  Neville Cardus was one of the most remarkable literary figures of the twentieth century. A prolific English writer and critic, he achieved distinction in two vastly different fields: cricket and classical music. Entirely self-taught, Cardus rose from humble beginnings to become both the cricket correspondent and chief music critic of The Manchester Guardian . His achievements in these contrasting disciplines earned him widespread acclaim and established him as one of the foremost critics of his generation. In February 2025, the cricketing and literary world marked the fiftieth anniversary of his death, which occurred in February 1975.

​Ideological shifts and structural realities within India's left-wing insurgency

​By Harsh Thakor*  The Maoist insurgency in India is arguably at its weakest point since the formation of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) in 2004. Years of sustained counterinsurgency operations, leadership losses, shrinking territorial influence, declining recruitment, and growing technological advantages enjoyed by the state have significantly eroded the movement's operational capabilities. 

The Dalit body on screen: Stereotypes, sacrifice, and subjugation in Hindi films

By Dr. Prem Singh*  Despite centuries of reformist efforts, from Gandhi and Ambedkar to contemporary activists, the caste system remains deeply embedded in the Indian psyche. One of the primary reasons for this persistence is the religious sanction provided by Brahminical scriptures, which have shaped not only social structures but also cultural and artistic expressions.