ABC News: Sweden to probe dark eugenics history

Sweden launched a probe on Wednesday to understand how eugenics, a theory on improving the human race used by Nazi Germany to justify the Holocaust, became broadly accepted in the Nordic state in the early 20th century. Sweden is now known for its strong social welfare system and outspoken advocacy for human rights, but in the past it has experimented with social engineering. This led to abuses such as the forcible sterilization of around 60,000 women in 1936-76. In 1922, the National Institute for Race Biology was founded with support from a range of political parties. The first of its kind in the world, the institute investigated whether race was a determining factor in illness or human character traits.