The database contains all 8,700 articles on persons of the standard reference work Biographisches Handbuch der deutschsprachigen Emigration nach 1933, which was built up by the Institute for Contemporary History (Institut für Zeitgeschichte) and the Research Foundation for Jewish Immigration, as well as five more sources on that topic. The database allows comprehensive research on the history of migration, persecution, and the influence of emigrants in the countries to which they emigrated.
The database contains the following sources:
Biographisches Handbuch der deutschsprachigen Emigration nach 1933 (International Biographical Dictionary of Central European Émigrés 1933–1945)
This biographical reference work is based on a collection off material, built up by the Institute of Contemporary History (IfZ) in Munich and the Research Foundation for Jewish Immigration since 1974. The intention was to cover the circle of emigrants involved in politics and publishing as completely as possible, in order to establish the significance of the German-speaking emigration as a total phenomena within the larger fields of social history and the history of ideas. The handbook is useful for research on the history of emigration, the influence of emigrants in the countries to which they emigrated as well as the history of persecution, resistance and exile, home coming and the influence of re-emigration. It includes over 8,700 articles on persons from the German-speaking cultural circles of central Europe, who emigrated between 1933 and 1945 for political reasons, because of their worldview, because they were being persecuted or were put under pressure by Anti-Jewish measures. In individual cases, non-German-speaking persons have also been included. The articles on individual people are arranged in three sections: 1. The most important information on a person, their family and the stations of their emigration. 2. Descriptions of the person’s life and activities, focusing in particular on the time of emigration and exile. 3. Details of literature by or about the person. Biographies of people from politics, the economy and public life are written in German, whilst biographies of people involved in art, science and literature are written in English. The reason for this is that the work is edited jointly by the Institute of Contemporary History (IfZ) in Munich and the Research Foundation for Jewish Immigration in New York.
Reproduction of the biographies in the database
The biographical articles are included in the document group “Biographical Material.” For each article, lists of abbreviations and literature and a glossary are linked as related documents. These documents along with further introductions and essays in English and German are also included in the document group “Explanatory Material.”
Die Ausbürgerung deutscher Staatsangehöriger 1933-45 nach den im Reichsanzeiger veröffentlichten Listen (Expatriation Lists as Published in the “Reichsanzeiger” 1933–45)
On July 14, 1933, a law was passed concerning the expatriation and the deprivation of German citizenship – “Widerruf von Einbürgerungen und die Aberkennung der deutschen Staatsangehörigkeit.” Deprivation of citizenship came into effect when names were published in the Deutscher Reichsanzeiger. On the basis of the provision for the deprivation of citizenship, more than 39,000 people had their citizenship withdrawn between August 1933 and January 1945. Those affected were intellectuals, social democrats, communists, liberals and conservatives, considered undesirable by the state, which defamed and fought them as leading regime critics and political opponents, as well as Jews who fled from persecution and extermination. It is often impossible to distinguish between politically motivated and racially based expatriation. The number of cases of expatriation was still low in the years 1933 to 1936. However, in 1937 it grew in leaps and bounds reaching a peak of about 10,000 people a year in 1939/1940. The intellectual exodus caused by the expatriation measures becomes apparent upon examination of the denaturalization lists. In the first four lists (1933–1935) one finds the names of prominent representatives of political and cultural life in the Weimar Republic: Lion Feuchtwanger, Alfred Kerr, Heinrich Mann, Wilhelm Münzenberg, Wilhelm Pieck, Philipp Scheidemann, Ernst Toller, and Kurt Tucholsky (in list 1); Johannes R. Becher, Albert Einstein, Oskar Maria Graf, Kurt Rosenfeld, and Max Sydewitz (in list 2); Willi Bredel, Leonhard Frank, Carola Henschke (Klabund), Helmuth Herzfeld (John Heartfield), Wieland Herzfelde, Alfred Kantorowicz, Klaus Mann, Erwin Piscator, Gustav Regler, and Otto Straßer (in list 3); Bertold Brecht, Hermann Budzislawski, Kurt Hiller, Erika Mann, Walter Mehring, Franz Pfemfert and Paul Westheim (in list 4). Not all those outlawed by the state went into exile. Many were later captured in the resistance, deported and murdered. This edition contains 359 expatriation lists published in the Reichsanzeiger the between August 25th, 1933 and January 23rd, 1945. The lists contain the names of the relevant people together with the dates and places of birth. They represent fundamental evidence of the “banishing of intellect” from Germany.
Reproduction of the documents in the database
The expatriation lists are included in the document group “Primary Sources.” Introductory articles, the foreword, the official legal terms and statistics are linked to the source documents as related documents. These documents can also be accessed in the document group “Explanatory Material.”
Wendland, Ulrike: Biographisches Handbuch deutschsprachiger Kunsthistoriker im Exil. Leben und Werk der unter dem Nationalsozialismus verfolgten und vertriebenen Wissenschaftler (Biographical Dictionary of Emigrated German Art Historians)
More than 250 German-speaking art historians were forbidden from practicing their profession during the National Socialist period. They were retired prematurely, dismissed from their employment, not given employment or prevented from continuing with the research on which they were working. A large number of art historians went abroad, seeking to save their lives and professional existence through emigrating from Germany and Austria. Of those who stayed, the most fortunate changed their professions or experienced a kind of “inner emigration” through the years of dictatorship. The less fortunate had to lead their lives in hiding; some were deported to concentration camps and murdered. Using the biographical and bibliographical data facilitates in-depth research of the expulsion, persecution, emigration and exile of German-speaking art historians. The information amounts to a combination of biographical encyclopedia and extensive biography of scholars. The systematic bio-bibliographical data adhere to a simple schema and besides basic biographical data with detailed accounts of family backgrounds, also includes the following points: emigration, education, life stations, works and contributions, special fields, honors, literature on their lives and works, sources, estates, and notes.
Reproduction of the Biographies in the database
The biographical articles are included in the document group “Biographical Material.” To each article, an introduction to the edition, explanations about the structure of the biographies, as well as lists of abbreviations and abbreviations in the literature used, are linked as related documents. These documents are also included in the document group “Explanatory Material.”
Biographisches Handbuch der deutschsprachigen wirtschaftswissenschaftlichen Emigration nach 1933 (Biographical Dictionary of Emigrated German Economists)
The expulsion of scholars from Germany and Austria by the National Socialists marks a fundamental break in the academic activity of the 20th century. Many promising careers and developments were interrupted. In many areas. German economic science fell behind international standards, which in turn advanced further, not least through contributions made by emigrated economists. With 328 articles the Biographical Dictionary of Emigrated German Economists provides a near complete account of dismissals from institutions of higher education and research institutes in Germany. Thanks to this handbook, it is possible to study the individual movements, careers, academic specializations and achievements of the émigrés in the countries to which they escaped, in context of the caesura in their life and in the light of academic discourse over the last few decades. Each article consists of a biography with detailed information on the person's academic and professional career and further literature.
Reproduction of the biographies in the database
The biographical articles are included in the document group “Biographical Material.” To each article, an introduction and lists of literature, sources and abbreviations are linked as related documents. These documents are also included in the document group “Explanatory Material.”
Inventar zu den Nachlässen emigrierter deutschsprachiger Wissenschaftler in Archiven und Bibliotheken der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Inventory of the Archival Deposits of Emigrated German Academics in German Archives and Libraries)
This work records the estates, parts of estates and collections of 425 German-speaking émigré scholars in German archives, as of 1991. Following the re-unification of Germany it was also possible to include the estates formerly held in East German archives and libraries. The publication comprises documents pertaining to the entire life of the individuals and their involvement in academic teaching and research, not just the period of emigration and exile.
Reproduction in the documents in the database
The respective estates are included in the document group “Biographical Material” under the name of the scholar. Each entry is linked to information on how to use this work, the table of categories and list of abbreviations. These documents are also included in the document group “Explanatory Material.”
Quellen zur deutschen politischen Emigration 1933–1945. Inventar von Nachlässen, nichtstaatlichen Akten und Sammlungen in Archiven und Bibliotheken der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Sources on German Political Emigration 1933–1945)
This work records the files of 23 exile organizations (parties, unions, organizations close to parties, inter-party organizations, and the editorials of emigrant newspapers) and the estates of 312 emigrants as they were at the end of 1992. Following German reunification, estates in the archives and libraries of the new federal states are also covered. The inventory has a uniform structure: designations and descriptions of the holdings builder (person / organization) follows the presentation of estates arranged according to proprietary institutions. The size, duration and extent of the indexing are noted, as is the available research literature. Each entry is rounded off with a description of the archive material’s contents.
Reproduction of the documents in the database
The estates appear under the names of the emigrants in the document group “Biographical Material.” The files of exile organizations can be found in the document group “Reference Works.” The introduction, a list of abbreviations and a list of cited publications are linked to each entry as related documents. These documents, along with a list of the archives covered, are also included in the document group “Explanatory Material.”
The sources were first published online in this database:
Deutsche Geschichte im 20. Jh.: Nationalsozialismus, Holocaust, Widerstand und Exil 1933–1945 Online, De Gruyter/K. G. Saur (2006–2022)
The database is based on the following printed works:
Biographisches Handbuch der deutschsprachigen Emigration nach 1933 (International Biographical Dictionary of Central European Émigrés 1933–1945)
Herausgegeben vom Institut für Zeitgeschichte, München, und von der Research Foundation for Jewish Immigration, Inc., New York unter der Gesamtleitung von Werner Röder und Herbert A. Strauss. 3 Bde. München [u. a.]: K. G. Saur 1980–1983
Die Ausbürgerung deutscher Staatsangehöriger 1933–45 nach den im Reichsanzeiger veröffentlichten Listen (Expatriation Lists as Published in the “Reichsanzeiger” 1933–1945)
Herausgegeben von Michael Hepp, eingeleitet von Hans Georg Lehmann und Michael Hepp. 3 Bde. München [u. a.]: K. G. Saur 1985–1988
Wendland, Ulrike: Biographisches Handbuch deutschsprachiger Kunsthistoriker im Exil. Leben und Werk der unter dem Nationalsozialismus verfolgten und vertriebenen Wissenschaftler
2 Bde. München: K. G. Saur 1999
Biographisches Handbuch der deutschsprachigen wirtschaftswissenschaftlichen Emigration nach 1933
Herausgegeben von Harald Hagemann und Claus-Dieter Krohn. Unter Mitarbeit von Hans Ulrich Eßlinger. 2 Bde. München: K. G. Saur 1999
Inventar zu den Nachlässen emigrierter deutschsprachiger Wissenschaftler in Archiven und Bibliotheken der Bundesrepublik Deutschland
Bearbeitet im Deutschen Exilarchiv 1933–1945 der Deutschen Bibliothek, Frankfurt am Main. München [u. a.]: K. G. Saur 1993. (Sonderveröffentlichungen / Die Deutsche Bibliothek Nr. 19) (Nachlassverzeichnisse zur deutschsprachigen Emigration)
Quellen zur deutschen politischen Emigration 1933–1945. Inventar von Nachlässen, nichtstaatlichen Akten und Sammlungen in Archiven und Bibliotheken der Bundesrepublik Deutschland
(Nachlassverzeichnisse zur deutschsprachigen Emigration) (Schriften der Herbert und Elsbeth Weichmann-Stiftung)
Herausgegeben im Auftrag der Herbert und Elsbeth Weichmann-Stiftung von Heinz Boberach, Patrik von zur Mühlen, Werner Röder und Peter Steinbach, bearbeitet von Ingrid Schulze-Bidlingmaier unter Mitwirkung von Ursula Adam, Volkmar Elstner und Mitarbeitern in den Archiven. München [u. a.]: K. G. Saur 1994.
