Examining Nazi Germany’s laws

Author: Noah Darr | Major: History | Semester: Spring 2025

I am Noah Darr and I am a senior honors History major with a minor in Political Science in the Fulbright College of Arts and Science at the University of Arkansas. This past school year I have been conducting research with my mentor Dr. Laurence Hare, a German historian, on a German Nazi named Heinrich Krieger for my Honors thesis with the help of the Honors College Research Grant that I received this spring semester. Heinrich Krieger was a German Nazi who came to the University of Arkansas in 1933 as a foreign exchange student. While in Arkansas Krieger began to research US race laws that he published in a number of law journals and magazines. His research was then used in an important 1934 meeting where the Nuremberg Laws were created. Through researching Heinrich Krieger scholars have been able to establish how the US influenced and indirectly assisted in Nazi Germany’s Nuremberg Laws and their persecution of Jews. Through my research I have been able to learn more about Krieger’s himself and his time and experience in Arkansas. I have revealed how knowledgeable Krieger was about US race laws and law in general and how Krieger did not just research race laws but also economics and business while a student at the University of Arkansas. I have also brought greater focus on Arkansas’s own race laws and race relations that reveal how Arkansas influenced Krieger’s understanding of US race laws. Most importantly, the research I have done here highlights the role of a singular Nazi scholar who was instrumental in the intellectual transnational exchange between the US and Nazi Germany on their treatment of their minority population.
How this research project came about was through an honors history seminar last spring semester called “Civil Rights in US History” taught by civil rights historian Dr. Brian McGowan where we were required to write a 15-20 original research paper. I decided to write my paper over Heinrich Krieger and some of his written work, his activities in Arkansas, and Arkansas’s
race laws and relations. After utilizing some of the archives at the University of Arkansas, local newspaper databases, and the law library archives I began to uncover unknown details about Krieger and local race laws. I was encouraged by Dr. McGowan to continue with my research as my honors thesis and after meeting with Dr. Hare I decided to do my thesis over Krieger after Dr. Hare volunteered to be my thesis advisor. Although Dr. McGowan would continue assisting me with my research. With Dr. Hare as my advisor I was able to gain more knowledge on Nazi Germany and he advised me on conducting more in-depth research on Krieger’s business seminar paper “The Element of Labor in Germany” that was written while he was a student in Arkansas. His paper provides a backdrop on the transnational exchange between the US and Germany on labor policies during the Great Depression and highlights Krieger’s breadth of knowledge.
Through this entire research experience I learned about the importance of adapting and avoiding tunnel vision by letting the sources talk to you when finding new information. Often I had a hard time letting go of former ideas and beliefs. When new information would come to light I would have a hard time taking in that new information and changing my understanding on the topic. I also learned how to write history papers better and avoid using “passive language.” Now that my research project on Krieger is over I have submitted my thesis to the Arkansas Historical Quarterly where it is being reviewed and hopefully published. I have also decided to pursue a master’s degree in History and have accepted admission to the University of Georgia. Because getting a paper published in a history journal is a long process I hope to continue working and revising my paper on Krieger and potentially present my research at conferences as a graduate student.