Robert Lehmann-Nitsche. Pruebas contundentes sobre su presencia en Napalpí en tiempos de la masacre

Abstract

During a fortnight in the month of July 1924, the German physician and anthropologist Robert Lehmann-Nitsche traveled to Napalpí´s Reduction in the National Territory of Chaco, with the aim of studying the myths and astronomical ideas of the Toba people. In this month one of the cruelest massacres of indigenous people in Argentina was perpetrated. Since the very first moment when the massacre gained visibility, mainly through the work of Edgardo Cordeu and Alejandra Siffredi (1971), historians and anthropologists have questioned whether Lehmann-Nitsche, who kept silent about the events, had witnessed them. This paper analyses unpublished sources and documents found at the Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut of Berlin, to demonstrate the anthropologist had full knowledge of the situation, providing strong evidence of his presence on the site and new elements to interpret the reasons for his silence.

Keywords

• massacre
• indigenous people
• Lehmann-Nitsche
• Napalpí
• indigenous reservations