ABSTRACT
The four countries of the Visegrad Group in Eastern Europe share a history of pre-war and post-war eugenics, in much of the similar way that each shares, apart from their historical and cultural differences, a "common fate" in the 20th century. The chapter focuses on one specific aspect of eugenics, namely sterilization, used as a medical tool to solve certain social issues. One should add that the term "eugenics" is not used in current discourse, as "eugenics" is associated with "old" forms of eugenics, such as forced abortion, compulsory sterilization or involuntary euthanasia and is not well received. The American Eugenics Movement and the eugenics practiced during the Nazi regime in Germany and the occupied countries are well known historical phenomena. Czech society was no stranger to such social currents. The Czech proponents of eugenics and their ideas were not significantly different from the eugenicists in other European countries.
