| Born: | 01-02-1893 |
| Faculty: | Law School |
| Category: | Deprivation of academic degree |
Ernst BOSCHAN, born in Vienna on January 2nd, 1893 in Vienna/Austria, the son of Armin Boschan (1862-1938, wine merchant) and Alice Boschan, née Rosenbaum (1872-1894). He had studied law at the University of Vienna, earning the degree of "Dr. iur." from the Law School on May 12th, 1919.
He had married Marianne Kohn (1901-1960) on April 25th, 1922, in the Vienna City Temple, and daughter Alice was born in 1923. He lived first in Vienna's 2nd district, Kleine Stadtgutgasse 9, then in Vienna's 2nd district, Obere Augartenstrasse 42, where he also had a factory company. He was registered as a lawyer in Vienna since December 1933 and had an office in Vienna's 3rd district, Untere Viaduktgasse 53.
He was persecuted as a Jew under National Socialism and was arrested by the Secret Police in Vienna during the November Pogrom of 1938 on November 10th and deported to the Dachau concentration camp (Bavaria) as a "Schutzhaeftling". In December 1938 he was released on condition that he leave the German Reich immediately. He was able to escape to Italy with his wife in time in May 1939 and emigrated to the USA via Naples/Italy, where they arrived with the SS Conte di Savoia in New York City, NY on December 23rd, 1939. They soon moved on to live and work in Washington, DC.
His daughter Alice Boschan (Miller) was able to leave on a Kindertransport to Norwich, UK. His father died in Vienna immediately after the Reichspogromnacht on November 12th, 1938, his sister Alice Lamplová (1894-1942), could not escape in time and was deported with her husband from German-occupied Brno [Czech Republic] to Theresienstadt [Terezin] on December 15th, 1941 and from there on January 15th, 1942 to Riga [Lithuania] where she was murdered.
Ernst Boschan was mustered into the U.S. Army in 1942 and was then working in Washingon at his home address in the Fabric Rewearing Co.
The German Reich had decided on August 30th, 1941, and announced in the Deutsche Reichsanzeiger on September 4th, 1941, that his German citizenship was revoked, and as a legal consequence all property was confiscated. As a further legal consequence, the University of Vienna was requested by the Reich Ministry of Education in Berlin to deprive him of his doctoral degree as well.
The University of Vienna decided on May 23rd, 1942 - announced and thus legally binding in the Deutsche Reichsanzeiger on July 17th, 1942 - to deprive him of his doctoral degree with the racist argument that under National Socialism "as a Jew he was considered unworthy of an academic degree from a German university."
It was not until 13 years after the revocation and long after the end of National Socialism that his doctoral degree was regranted on May 15th, 1955, respectively the revocation was declared "null and void from the beginning".
He died in January 1971 in Washington, DC/USA.
Lit.: Archive of the University of Vienna/graduation registry ("Promotionsprotokoll") IUR 1915-1919 No. 930, Rectorate GZ GZ 118 ex 1941/42 No. 64, GZ 561 ex 1944/45 No. 15; Austrian State Archives OeStA/AdR/E-uReAng/VVSt/VA 10567, OeStA/AdR/E-uReAng/Hilfsfonds/AHF 22503; Deutscher Reichsanzeiger No. 206, September 4th, 1941; POSCH 2009, 396; POSCH/STADLER 2005; SAUER/REITER-ZATLOUKAL 2010, 98 (2022², 205); www.genteam.at; www.ancestry.de; www.myheritage.at; www.geni.com; www.findbuch.at.
Herbert Posch
