Transcending Tradition Jewish Mathematicians in German-Speaking Acad
A companion publication to the international exhibition "Transcending Tradition: Jewish Mathematicians in German-Speaking Academic Culture", the catalogue explores the working lives and activities of Jewish mathematicians in German-speaking countries duri
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Edited by Birgit Bergmann Moritz Epple Ruti Ungar
Editors Birgit Bergmann Moritz Epple Ruti Ungar Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main Historisches Seminar Wissenschaftsgeschichte Grüneburgplatz 1 60323 Frankfurt am Main Germany www.gj-math.de Translated and revised English edition Layout init: feil und partner, Roswitha Feil Frankfurt am Main Translators Susanne Bernhart, Staci von Boeckmann, Nicole Gentz, Stefani Ross English language editor Nicole Gentz
ISBN 978-3-642-22463-8 ISBN 978-3-642-22464-5 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-22464-5 Springer Heidelberg Dordrecht London New York ©2012 Springer Verlag Berlin Heidelberg This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilm or in any other way, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the German Copyright Law of September 9, 1965, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Violations are liable to prosecution under the German Copyright Law. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
We dedicate this exhibition to all the Jewish mathematicians, who could not flee Germany in time after 1933.
Preface In the years after 1933, and occasionally even earlier, Jewish academics in Germany – and later in other countries occupied by German troops – lost their positions. Those who could not leave in time were sent to ghettos and deported to concentration camps. Some of those who managed to flee or to survive the camps were able to establish new careers in their host countries. Others, however, suffered greatly from the losses caused by their forced exile. Only very few returned to Germany following the end of the Nazi regime. Mathematics was one of the sciences where the impact of Nazi persecution was strongest. For decades before their expulsion or extermination, Jewish mathematicians had become an important part of the German-speaking mathematical world. Advancement through education, the social trend so characteristic of German-Jewish life in the 19th and early 20th centuries, was highly successful in the field of mathematics. Even though discrimination and anti-Semitism never fully disappeared, the traditional barriers for Jews to enter universities began to weaken in the course of the 19th century, and a significant number of Jews undertook academic careers in mathematics. In the decades before and after 1900, when mathematics was undergoing a deep intellectual and professional transformation, many of them held professorships or other importan
