Case of the Nazi Professor
by David M. Oshinsky
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In 1935, the abrupt dismissal of a German professor at Rutgers University received national attention, arousing the interest of the FBI, ACLU and N.J. state officials, and inciting a university hearing and report. Twenty-six-year-old Lienhard Bergel's contract was terminated, allegedly because of lack of funding, but in fact Bergel's politics clashed with department chair Friedrich J. Hauptmann's pro-Nazi views. Bergel's departure from Rutgers occurred amid a flurry of controversy that show more polarized students and administrators alike. Alan Silver, who had been a student activist in 1935, republicized the Bergel incident in 1985, prompting this volume. The authors, all Rutgers history faculty, here offer a chronicle of the school as well as re-create the political climate of those earlier times. However, a larger story never emerges from their assembled details. Vital matters, such as freedom of speech, the politics of academia and the activities of student peace groups, are obscured by a long roster of names and dates. Bergel's involvement with the FBI (he gave the agency information on Hauptmann's Nazi activities) is considered only in passing. Hauptmann's collaboration with the Nazis, a fascinating story, and his eventual repatriation during the war to Germany, is told too briefly. Though perhaps a document useful to Rutgers academics, the book is unlikely to command widespread attention. Illustrations not seen by PW. show lessMembers
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11+ Works 1,986 Members
He is also an associate editor of the American National Biography. Oshinsky writes about the brutality of penitentiary life in his book, Worse Than Slavery: Parchman Farm and the Ordeal of Jim Crow Justice. He earned a Senior Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities and an appointment as Distinguished Professor of History at the show more University of Texas, Austin for his work on the penitentiary project. Oshinsky also received the 17th Annual Robert F. Kennedy Book Award for his novel. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, History, Politics and Government
- DDC/MDS
- 378.121 — Society, government, & culture Education Higher education (Tertiary education) Organization and management; curriculums Teaching staff; Faculty Freedom of teaching
- LCC
- LC72.3 .N5 .O83 — Education Special aspects of education Special aspects of education Social aspects of education Education and the state Academic freedom
- BISAC
Statistics
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- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 2
