"A student who does not consider it necessary to join the ranks of Adolf Hitler's political soldiers should no longer be worthy of studying at the University of Berlin."
1920s to 1933
The physical ejection of Jewish and politically unpopular fellow students from the doors of the university has been common practice since the 1920s. On 30 June 1932, the National Socialist students demanded that "Jews should at least be banned from the entrance hall". On 30 January 1933, they demanded the first expulsions of political opponents.
Action against political opponents
What the Rector initially rejects is soon dealt with by a series of decrees from the new National Socialist Minister of Culture. On 29 June 1933, the Ministry of Culture demanded the removal of all students "who have demonstrably engaged in communist activities in recent years". On the initiative of the Berlin university management, this was extended on 9 August to include Social Democrats ("Marxists" in Nazi jargon) and students who had "otherwise been active in an anti-national sense".
By 1934, a total of 124 students were forced to leave the university for political reasons. "Blacklists" prevent them from being accepted by other universities.
Anti-Semitic restrictions
Lecturers and university staff of Jewish origin are dismissed under the "Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service" of 7 April 1933 - it is the first law with an "Aryan paragraph". Such an "Aryan paragraph" excludes students of Jewish origin from the now state-recognised "German student body". Nazi students, SA men and university staff repeatedly terrorised the Jewish students.
On 25 April, the "Law against Overcrowding in German Schools and Universities" is passed, which sets very low quotas for "non-Aryans". Jewish students are excluded from scholarships, fee waivers and even the canteen. In addition, the "Aryan paragraphs" of various decrees block almost all career prospects: Jews have hardly been admitted to state examinations since 1935. They could no longer expect to be employed in the public sector as teachers, civil servants or doctors. Independent professions such as practising doctors or lawyers were also increasingly subject to anti-Semitic restrictions. Most Jews abandon their German university careers by 1934 - those who can, emigrate and continue their studies abroad. In the course of the "Reichspogromnacht" of 9 November 1938, the Reich Minister of Culture finally banned all Jews from entering German universities.
However, the Nazi Student Union, authorities and university management also intensified their political control over the "Aryan" students. With propaganda and training events as well as SA services and the like, they tried to capture as many students as possible. From the winter of 1936, the university only enrolled members of Nazi organisations.
Consequences
In total, 1.2 per cent of students at the University of Berlin are expelled. Many of them were Jewish, and almost a third of those expelled were women. The University of Berlin removes by far the most students in the Reich, both in absolute and relative terms.
| Reich | FWU* | |
|---|---|---|
| total | 548 | 124 |
| of which as communists | 49 | |
| of which as "Marxists" | 46 | |
| of which as "enemies of the state" | 29 |
*Friedrich Wilhelm University
Text: J?rg Pache
List
The first page of the list from 12 December 1933 shows 95 male and 37 female students (some of whom are later re-admitted). By 1934, the university had permanently expelled 124 students from the university - this corresponds to 1.2 per cent of all enrolled students, significantly more than at other universities. (Archive of the Humboldt-Universit?t)
Friedrich Wilhelm University
Berlin, 12 December 1933.
The University of Berlin has further excluded from study:
1.) Due to communist activity on the basis of the ministerial decree of 29 June 1933 - U I 2190c - from university studies (relegation) the students:
| 4225/122 | Magner, Manfred, med. | born 24.1.14 in Berlin |
| 8626/121 | Cottschalk, Margarete, med. | born 17.9.10 in Berlin |
| 3616/122 | Isenburg, Lotte, med. | born 4.9.13 in Berlin |
| 3996/122 | Metz, Heinrich, med. | born 2.4.14 in Berlin |
| 2664/122 | Wolfram, Amy, jur. | born 26.3.12 in Debreczin |
| 7710/120 | Wetzel, Ingeborg, phil. | b.12.8.10 to Bln.-Steglitz |
| 4211/118 | Lechner, Bruno, med. | born 12.4.10 in Berlin |
| 4820/122 | Freyman, Richard, phil. | born 10.6.12 in Leipzig |
| 6696/120 | Halpern, Paul, phil. | born 30.10.07 in Berlin |
| 2162/121 | Silbermann, Kurt, phil. | born 31.12.11 in Berlin |
2) On the basis of the ministerial decree of 9 August 1933 - U I 22525 - from university studies (relegation) due to anti-state or anti-national activities:
| 4947/123 | Oldenburg, Ulrich, phil. | born 26.4.03 in Berlin-Charlottenburg |
| 5262/122 | Glaser, Erich, med. | born 20.6.12 in Berlin-Charlottenburg |
| 8363/121 | Horchowski, Heinz, med. | born 25.4.13 in Berlin |
| 117/121 | Rosen, David, phil. | born 29.7.11. in Berlin |
| 3456/120 | Rothstein, Elisabeth, phil. | b.14.2.10 at Rendorf/Rh. |
| 1385/119 | Tachernoff, Jordan, med. | born 1 July 1906 in Slutzkitz/Bulg. |
At
all German universities
and colleges.
