Citation

Pauli R, Sziranyi J, Groß D. Pathologe 2019; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Vernacular Title

Der Pathologe Philipp Schwartz (1894–1977) : Vom NS-Opfer zum Initiator der „Notgemeinschaft deutscher Wissenschaftler im Ausland“.

Affiliation

Institut für Geschichte, Theorie und Ethik der Medizin, Universitätsklinikum der RWTH Aachen, Wendlingweg 2, 52074, Aachen, Deutschland.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s00292-019-0620-5

PMID

31172255

Abstract

Without a doubt, Frankfurt Pathologist Philipp Schwartz is one of the most iconic scholars in recent medical history. As the son of Jewish parents, he was forced to emigrate after Hitler seized power in 1933. Despite this repressive experience, he succeeded in founding the "Notgemeinschaft deutscher Wissenschaftler im Ausland" ("Emergency Association of German Scientists Abroad") in 1933, with which he helped hundreds of forcibly emigrated university teachers find academic positions. In addition, he had a decisive influence on the reform of the higher education system in Turkey, rendered outstanding achievements in neuropathology, and attained leading positions as a scientist in the exile countries Turkey and the USA.However, as successful as the pathologist's scientific career in exile may have been, his relationship with Germany remained problematic throughout his life. Against this background, this article focuses on the reception of Philipp Schwartz in the different political systems of Germany - from the Weimar Republic to the Third Reich, and from post-war Germany to the recent past in the Federal Republic. This study is essentially based on primary sources from the University Archive of Frankfurt.Schwartz had a promising career in the Weimar Republic. In the aftermath of Hitler's takeover (1933) he was deprived of any perspectives in Germany and fled to Switzerland in the spring of 1933. His achievements as a full professor in Istanbul and as initiator of the Notgemeinschaft are remarkable in both scientific and political regards. Still, he was denied employment at the Goethe University Frankfurt. Until well after his death (1977), Philipp Schwartz's life and work received little attention in Germany. It was only after the turn of the millennium that he received the recognition he was denied during his lifetime.

Language: de

Keywords

Emigration; Emigration and immigration; National Socialism; Neuropathology; Scientific societies