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Jewish Academics and Students in 1930s Germany

About the Event
Join us for a throught provoking lecture by Emeritus Professor Andrew Markus as he explores the persecution of Jewish academics and students in Germany’s universities before and after the Nazi Party’s rise to power in 1933.

This event commemorates the 90th anniversary of the Nuremberg Race Laws, which classified Jews as a separate race, stripped them of citizenship, and led to the dismissal of the last remaining Jewish professors. Drawing on Saul Friedländer’s insight that “cultured Judeophobia” was prevalent among German professors while students exhibited more radical hostility, Markus will examine the toxic environment on German campuses, where antisemitic harassment became an everyday occurrence. He will discuss the tactics of the National Socialist German Student League, including public shaming, book burnings, and the 1933 Vow of Allegiance to Hitler signed by German professors.

Using historical accounts such as the diaries of dismissed Professor Victor Klemperer, this lecture will illuminate the complex and disturbing role universities played in propagating Nazi ideology.

Andrew Markus
Emeritus Professor Andrew Markus is an accomplished historian and academic, specialising in Australian immigration history.  For a number of years he taught the history of the modern Middle East at Monash University.

Date and time:
Tuesday 4 February 2024 - 6:30pm