Day of Remembrance: Geosciences during the National Socialist era
Dies Academicus on January 27, 2022, from 4 pm
The Day of Remembrance for the Victims of National Socialism is held annually in Germany on 27th of January. At the University of Bremen, one of the twelve departments always organises the central commemoration event in alternating years - this year it is the Geosciences. To ensure that as many students and staff as possible can take part, the day is a Dies Academicus in the afternoon, when no lectures are held.
The first presentation, entitled "Between Two World Wars: International Expeditions for the Community" will be given by Professor Antje Boetius, Director of the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) and Professor at the Department of Geosciences at the University of Bremen. The history of polar and marine research is a history of international cooperation, but also of competition for presence, knowledge advantage and technical progress. The lecture will shed light on the background to the three German expeditions funded by the Notgemeinschaft (predecessor organisation of the DFG) between two world wars in the Weimar Republic, which was characterised by economic, social and political uncertainty: The Alai-Pamir expedition to explore glaciers, the Meteor expedition to survey the Atlantic and Alfred Wegener`s Greenland expedition. Letters and pictures of the time shed light on the difficult situation of science and science funding in the attempt to gain international recognition. The considerable entanglement of the expeditions with the military and politics as well as the dependencies in science funding should not be forgotten.
In the second lecture, Professor Andreas Hoppe, geologist and director of the Geologists Archiv and honorary professor at the University of Freiburg, will shed light on Jewish geologists in 20th century Germany. Starting with a claim by Hans Stille that "Jews are useless as geologists", a brief look is taken at their real significance for the geosciences. This is followed by exemplary descriptions of individual fates: One of them had to emigrate as a Catholic patriot because of a Jewish grandfather, returned to National Socialist Germany and was a successful university lecturer after the war. Another, despite emigration, was arrested by the SS in Yugoslavia and murdered in Buchenwald.
The event will take place via Zoom webinar. Access is available on the day of the event via the following link: https://uni-bremen.zoom.us/j/97624454456?pwd=Z2MrRWRUNUliR011Z0ZOTWpXTHRaUT09Identifier code: 2468