Ernst Erdös

Born:	02-05-1919
Faculty:	Philosophical School
Category:	Expelled student

Ernst ERDOES, born on February 5th, 1919 in Vienna/Austria (entitled residency ('heimatberechtigt') for Hódmezó-Vásárhely/Hungary, Citizenship: Hungary), son of Philipp Erdoes (merchant), lived in Vienna 8th district, Langegasse 67/16. After he had graduated from high school in Vienna, he began to study at the University of Vienna. He was enrolled finally in the fall term 1937/38 at the Philosophical School in the 1st year of his studies and took courses in Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics (Leaving Certificate ('Abgangszeugnis') was issued on April 13th, 1938).

After the "Anschluss" of Austria in 1938 Erdoes emigrated via Berlin to Switzerland, where he resumed his chemical studies at the ETH Zurich. He worked as a research associate in the electrical industry. Because of his engagement for the Trotskyist-communist movement he was arrested in 1940 and prosecuted together with 12 other persons. Thanks to the personal commitment of his lawyer Dr. Veit Wyler he was acquitted for lack of evidence in 1942. He dissociated from the Trotskyist movement and became a amember of the Swiss Social Democratic Party.
His mother was murdered in the concentration camp Auschwitz [Oswiecim/Poland] in 1944, his father survived the shoah in Budapest/Hungary.

After his retirement Erdoes began to study history and philosophy at the University of Zurich

Ernst Erdoes died in 1998 in Zurich.


Lit.: Leopold KOHN/Peter A. SCHMID, Ernst Erdoes: Schriften aus dem Nachlass, Basel 2004; etate at the Archiv für Zeitgeschichte at the ETH Zuerich.

Katharina Kniefacz