Off to the archive: Studying under the swastika

The history of the Technical University of Munich (THM) during National Socialism is a story of persecution, resistance and the struggle of numerous students to find an academic and political home. In our current themed tour, we focus on the fates of students who were persecuted and on those who were influenced by Nazi ideology and played a key role in shaping the environment at THM.

Exemplary files show how political instrumentalization, discrimination and the desire for a new academic home had an impact. The life story of Gerd Weissmann (1923-1984), for example, tells of exclusion and de-registration: in 1942/43, as a "stateless" and "mixed-race of first degree“, he was enrolled at the THM in 1942/43 and was then forced to de-register, which ultimately led to an emigrated professional career in the USA.

Edith Bloch (1911-2013) offers another perspective. As a Munich Jew, she completed her chemistry degree in 1934 under Hans Fischer despite Nazi restrictions, emigrated to the USA in 1936 and began an important career there as a biochemist.

Bernhard Pietrkowski's (1910-1993) biography also marks a central lifeline of this period. Persecuted as a Jew, he emigrated in 1934 to the USA and changed his name to Bernard Peters. As Berkeley's researcher in the field of cosmic radiation, he remained closely associated with Robert Oppenheimer. During the McCarthy era, he emigrated again to India and Denmark and was nominated for the Nobel Prize in 1952.

The tour will be conducted in German.