Biographical Continuities after 1945

© HAZ-Hauschild-Archiv, Historisches Museum Hannover

An investigation into the Nazi ties of professors employed at the Technische Hochschule Hannover after 1945, with a particular focus on rectors and Senate members.

It is not a case of coming to terms with the past. That is not possible. It cannot be subsequently modified or made undone. However, anyone who closes his eyes to the past is blind to the present. Whoever refuses to remember the inhumanity is prone to new risks of infection.
Federal President Richard von Weizsäcker, 8 May 1985

Publication

Even as the working group “Awarding and withdrawal of titles during the Nazi period” was conducting its work, which focused on the period from 1933 to 1945, questions arose regarding the subsequent years, staff continuity, university officials after 1945, and the evaluation of their biographies in terms of connections with the Nazi regime.

The current study investigates the academic biographies of 326 professors who were born up until 1927 and were all employed at the University of Hannover and its predecessor institutions after 1945 (last appointment in 1978). The project provides an almost complete overview, for the first time, of the memberships of professors from the Technische Hochschule, the Technical University and the University of Hannover in Nazi organisations, their involvement within these organisations and their other activities in support of the Nazi regime. The focus is on members of the Senate, which was made up of rectors; vice rectors; faculty deans; and the senators, who were elected by the professors.

The study also sheds light on the continued impact of Nazi ideology in the Federal Republic of Germany after 1945. In this respect, Leibniz University Hannover has taken another, important step in reviewing and appraising its Nazi history.

[Translate to English:] Buchcover, Details siehe unten [Translate to English:] Buchcover, Details siehe unten [Translate to English:] Buchcover, Details siehe unten

Michael Jung
A new age. A new spirit?
An investigation into the Nazi ties of professors employed at the Technische Hochschule Hannover after 1945, with a particular emphasis on rectors and Senate members.

Published by the Presidential Board of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover
Michael Imhof Verlag, Petersberg 2020
ISBN 978-3-7319-1082-4

The publication is available online in the repository of the TIB – Leibniz Information Centre for Science and Technology and University Library:

Online book launch and interview about the book

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Online book launch with Dr. Michael Jung (in German)

Video of the live stream on 18 November 2020, 7:00 pm

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Dr. Michael Jung: A new era, a new spirit?

Interview on the occasion of the book's publication in 2020