19 February 2010
Stolpersteine: Call for Donations
On 22 April 2010, 10
Stolpersteine ("stumbling blocks") will be laid directly in front of the University's main building. The stone plaques are dedicated to the memories of people killed by the National Socialists. They are small, cement blocks set into the sidewalk, each with a bronze plate surface bearing the engraved dates of birth and death. They mark the buildings in which victims either lived or worked.
Our University also had its victims: eleven members of the UHH were deported, killed, or driven to suicide by the National Socialists. The
Stolpersteine, which will be lowered into the sidewalk in Edmund-Siemers-Allee in front of the main building, are dedicated to these men and women.
The project's initiator, sculptor Gunter DEMING, members of the University's management, First Mayor Ole VON BEUST and Bishop Maria JEPSEN will attend the ceremony. The stones will be set into the cement on 22 April at 10:30, followed by a small reception in the front hall of the Agathe Lasch Lecture Hall (B), to which all members of the University are invited.
Normally, the
Stolpersteine are financed by private sponsors. The costs are not high - just 95 Euros per stone. To underscore the University's dedication to the project, the suggestion was made that the stones be financed by University members.
"We would be delighted if as many members of the University as possible would donate or attend the ceremony to keep alive the memory of the people here who fell victim to National Socialism, and to warn and to obligate future generations. Every donation of any amount is welcome," said Vice President Fischer.
All members of the University will receive a letter about donating in the next few days.
The following account has been set up for donations:
Universität Hamburg
Deutsche Bank Hamburg
Bank Code: 20070000
Account No. 080262930
Ref: Stolpersteine Nr. 2781
Surplus funds will be used for further commemorative measures such as memorial plaques in lecture halls or in the front hall of the main building.
The stones are dedicated to the following people:
Dr. Ernst DELBANCO
Born 21 Feb. 1869 in Hamburg, Honorary Professor for Skin and Sexually-Transmitted Diseases in the Faculty of Medicine since 1921. As a "non-Aryan," his teaching permit was revoked on 31 July 1933. Ernst Delbanco committed suicide on 31 March 1935.
Hedwig KLEIN
Born 19 February 1911 in Antwerp, passed her doctoral exams in Islamic Studies on 18 December 1937, but as a "non-Aryan" was not awarded a doctorate. While trying to flee, she was forced by the outbreak of WWII to return to Hamburg, from where she was deported to Auschwitz on 11 July 1942.
Prof. Dr. Agathe LASCH
Born 4 July 1879 in Berlin, Lasch worked in Hamburg in the German Seminar since 1917 and in 1923 became the first female full professor at the University, founded in 1919. Forced as a "non-Ayran" to relinquish her Chair for Lower German Philology on 30 June 1934, she moved to Berlin, from where she was deported on 12 August 1942 and sent to her death.
Expert for German literature, languages, first female University professor of the Hamburg University
Prof. Dr. Gerhard LASSAR
Born 16 February 1888 in Berlin, named Associate Professor for Public Law at the University of Hamburg in 1925. Dismissed as a "non-Aryan" on 1 January 1934, he moved to Berlin, where he committed suicide on 6 January 1936.
Dr. Martha MUCHOW
Born 25 September 1892 in Hamburg, Muchow was a close colleague of William Sterns and since 1929 a councilor at the Psychological Institute. Following Stern's forced dismissal, she planned to return to teaching. On 29 September 1933, she died of injuries from a suicide attempt.
Prof. Dr. Kurt PERELS
Born 9 March 1878 in Berlin, appointed to the Chair for Public Law at the Hamburg Colonial Institute in 1909. As a "non-Aryan" confronted with the impending loss of both his bishopric and judgeship, he committed suicide on 10 September 1933.
Hans Konrad LEIPELT
Born 18 July 1921 in Vienna, released from military service in 1940 as a "half Jew," Leipelt was forced to leave his native Hamburg and to continue his studies in Chemistry in Munich in winter semester 1941/1942. There he raised money to support the widow of Professor Kurt Huber, who had been executed, and, with classmates, he distributed flyers critical of the National Socialist regime. He played a significant role in relaying information to his Hamburg friends about Munich's "White Rose" group. He was imprisoned in Munich on 8 October 1943, sentenced to death by the People's Tribunal on 13 October 1944 for "Undermining the Military and Supporting the Enemy" and killed in Stadelheim, Munich on 29 January 1945.
Reinhold MEYER
Born 18 July 1920 in Hamburg, Meyer was junior head of the "Bookstore of the Rauhen Haus Agency" in Hamburg, where he studied German Literature. Imprisoned on 19 December 1943 as a member of an oppositional circle, he was sent to a prison of the secret police in Fuhlsbüttel. Following several months of imprisonment in the Neuengamme concentration camp, he died under mysterious circumstances on 12 November 1944.
Margaretha ROTHE
Born 13 June 1919 in Hamburg, University of Hamburg medical student Rothe was jailed on 9 November 1943 for membership in an oppositional circle. After imprisonment in several German prisons, she died of TB in jail in Dösen, Leipzig on 15 April 1945.
Friedrich GEUSSENHAINER
Born 24 April 1912 in Neumünster, the scholar at the University hospital in Eppendorf was jailed in July 1943 for his opposition to the Nazi dictatorship. After he was transferred from Fuhlsbüttel to the Neuengamme concentration camp in May 1944, he was sent to the Mauthausen concentration camp on 7 October 1944, where he died at the end of April 1945.
Contact:Dr. Claudine Hartau
Personal Spokeswoman for
Vice President of Academic Affairs
Tel. (040) 42838-5293
E-Mail:
claudine.hartau@uni-hamburg.de
