Revocation of Academic Titles by Schlesische Friedrich-Wilhelms- -Universität zu Breslau ERASED in 1933-1945 1 Editors: Norbert Finzsch, Krzysztof Ruchniewicz in cooperation with Anna Kurpiel Translation: Zofia Ziemann Revision: Monika Budzyń-Kelly Composition: : Ewa Kutkowska ISBN 978-83-7977-089-2 Oficyna Wydawnicza ATUT – Wrocławskie Wydawnictwo Oświatowe ul. Kościuszki 51a, 50-011 Wrocław, tel. 71 342 20 56…58, fax 71 341 32 04 http://www.atut.ig.pl, e-mail:
[email protected] Table of contents: Introduction – Norbert Finzsch, Krzysztof Ruchniewicz 5 Cezary Przybylski Marshal of Lower Silesian Province 7 Rafał Dutkiewicz, Mayor of Wrocław 9 Prof. Marek Bojarski, Rector of the University of Wroclaw 11 Prof. Axel Freimuth, Rector of the University of Cologne 17 Biograms Siegfried Fischer (Edyta Kotyńska) 25 Arthur Guttmann (Mateusz Matuszyk) 27 Paul Tillich (Mateusz Matuszyk) 29 Abraham Albert Kahlberg (Kai Kranich) 31 Otto Landsberg (Anne Mareike Lisker) 35 Hugo Steinthal (Mateusz Matuszyk) 37 Elfriede Danziger (Kai Kranich) 39 Declaration 43 3 4 Introduction Symbolically named “Erased”, this project concerns one of the darkest chapters in German history. After 1933, acting on political and racial grounds, the Nazis dismissed from universities and deprived of academic titles hundreds of people, most of whom were forced to emigrate. Those who stayed in Germany suffered different forms of discrimination and persecution, they were imprisoned and even killed. Also the city of Wrocław and its university were a scene of these events. Eight decades later, as a result of collaboration between the University of Wrocław and its partner institution, the University of Cologne, a joint declaration was issued, meant as a tribute to the victims of that persecution, even if the revoked academic titles cannot be returned to them, which indeed is legally impossible.