The Migration of European Scientists to Poly During WWII

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• Course catalog analysis: Consider analyzing course catalogs to explore changes before and after key events.

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Rise of the Nazi Party

Figure 1 – Adolf Hitler greets Paul von Hindenburg (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)

On January 30, 1933—a day many had feared yet expected—Adolf Hitler, leader of the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (Nazi Party), was appointed Chancellor of Germany by President Paul von Hindenburg (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum). This marked the beginning of the Nazi era, a period that led to totalitarian dictatorship, repression, widespread anti-Semitism, the Holocaust, and ultimately, World War II.

During this time, many German, Austrian, and other European scientists, often of Jewish descent, fled their home countries to escape Nazi persecution. Their departure was hastened by Hitler’s first anti-Jewish law, enacted in April 1933, which stripped all “non-Aryan” academics of their teaching positions. As a result, 25% of German physicists—among them eleven past or future Nobel Prize winners—lost their jobs (“Scientific Exodus,” 2014). Many of these intellectuals found refuge in the United States, where they continued their research and made lasting contributions to human knowledge.

Notable scientists who emigrated during this period include Albert Einstein, Leo Szilard, Eugene Wigner, and John von Neumann. This large-scale exodus of talent, often referred to as the “Brain Drain,” is the focus of this Manifold project, with particular attention to the personal and intimate journeys of scientists who ultimately arrived at the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn (Poly), now known as NYU Tandon School of Engineering. The Poly Archives at the Bern Dibner Library of Science and Technology provide essential primary sources for this project, offering a deeper insight into their lives and, specifically, their paths to Poly.