WU study focuses on the expulsion of Jewish and dissident students after the "Anschluss" of Austria by Nazi Germany

A current WU research study is investigating WU’s history during the period after the annexation to Germany and under Nazi rule from 1938 – 1945. One of the main objectives of the project is to identify those students who were unable to complete their studies because of their Jewish faith or their opposition to the Nazi regime. A memorial will be dedicated to these students on the new WU campus.

The 1938 Anschluss, or annexation of Austria to Germany, brought comprehensive changes to the Hochschule für Welthandel, as WU was known at the time. Austria was under the law of the German Reich, with brutal consequences for its Jewish students. Not only students, any faculty members considered to be political opponents of the Nazi regime or “non-Aryan” under the Nürnberg Laws were also forced to leave the university. They were replaced by professors from German universities or Austrian researchers who were loyal to the regime. Although the presiding Rector Bruno Dietrich (1936-1939) was a member of the National Socialist Party, he was replaced by Kurt Knoll (1939-1944), head of the National Socialist University Lecturers League (NS Dozentenbund). Knoll was replaced by Leopold Mayer in 1944, followed by Franz Dörfel in 1945.

Jewish students hindered in their studies

WU Professor Peter Berger, Head of the Institute for Economic and Social History, and his colleague Johannes Koll are focusing on Jews who were forced to abandon their diploma and doctoral studies. “Unfortunately, there is no central register of these students, so we have to search through various archives and databases in Austria and abroad”, says Peter Berger. The team has already found records of 33 Jews who were forbidden to continue their studies or were not allowed to take exams after the Anschluss. Based on the total number of students at the time (764 students in 1937/38 and 464 students in 1938/39), this amounts to 4.3% and 7.1% of enrolled students, respectively. “The fate of these students cannot always be accounted for. We know that 18 of them managed to leave the country and/or return to their home countries (many of them were from Poland), and that five of them survived the war. We are still trying to determine what happened to the other 15,” explains Johannes Koll. A number of Jewish students were still allowed to sit examinations in 1938, or were issued a leaving certificate.

Completing doctoral studies under Nazi rule

Two Jewish doctoral candidates were refused their doctoral title in spite of having successfully completed all requirements, while in July of 1938, 11 other Jewish candidates were allowed to graduate. However, these candidates were obligated to have their dissertations published, a requirement not made of most “Aryan” doctoral students. In addition, the graduation ceremonies for Jewish students were not allowed to be attended by the public, the standard ceremonial rituals were not conducted, and the Rector was not permitted to give a speech. By allowing some Jewish students to complete their doctoral studies, the regime hoped that these graduates would immediately leave the country. Two people who already held doctoral degrees were stripped of their titles; this decision was revoked after the war.

Public support for project

It is now planned to expand the project on the expulsion of Jewish students by including public support via a project website and a virtual, online memorial book. Past experience has shown that in many cases, once the names of victims have been published, the descendants of the displaced persons will come forward to contribute valuable additional information or historical documents. “This type of contribution can really help, especially information on people we have not been able to identify as victims based on insufficient documentation,” says Peter Berger about the website.

Memorial dedicated to the victims of National Socialism planned for new campus

A memorial will be dedicated to the victims of the Nazi regime on the new WU campus. “We have a responsibility to society not to look away from that dark chapter in history, which is also a dark chapter in every university’s history. We want to remember those victims who were forced by National Socialism to leave their homes or abandon their studies, and we are taking the opportunity provided by our new campus to make sure that we don’t just walk away from this part of history,” says Rector Christoph Badelt. An unveiling ceremony for the memorial is expected to be held in the fall of this year. “This needs to be a long-term project, so that we have the time to deal with this topic as carefully and as thoroughly as it deserves. This is why we hope to have the virtual memorial book online as soon as possible, where all the details uncovered to date can be published,” continues Rector Badelt.

Contact:Cornelia MollPR ManagerTel.: + 43-1-31336-4977cornelia.moll@wu.ac.at