Re: USAGE: Translation of Russian _inorodtsy_

Staving Nik Taylor:
>Andreas Johansson wrote:
> > It's been a while since I read of them, but they apparently see Swedes
> as the
> > archetypical 'Aryans', so being associated with us is probably a Good
> Thing.
> > Can't recall how they fitted themselves into Nazist racial hierarchies.
>
>Perhaps a two-fold racial hierarchy?  A hierarchy of European races,
>with Aryans at the top, and a hierarchy of Asian races, with Japanese at
>the top?
The Nazis didn't give a monkey's about accurate anthropology. Hitler
himself knew that the concept of "race" was scientifically meaningless.
Aryan simply meant "One of Us". The Japanese were allies, so they were
Aryan. A classic case of "This word means what we want it to mean, because
we'll kill you if you disagree with us."

Meanwhile, in the real world, doesn't Aryan refer to a population found in
India and Persia, rather than Europe? "Aryan" and "Iran" are cognates (try
telling that to the Good Ol' Boys in some parts of the USA!).

pETE

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