Otto Langbein

Born:	10-07-1910
Faculty:	Philosophical School
Category:	Deprivation of academic degree

Otto LANGBEIN (born on October 7th, 1910 in Vienna), had graduated at the Philosophical School at the University of Vienna in Geography on May 16th, 1935 with the academic degree 'Dr. phil.' (dissertation: 'Die national-autonomen Einheiten im räumlichen Aufbau der Sowjet-Union. Eine politisch-geographische Betrachtung [erschien auszugsw. im Geograph. Jahresbericht Österreich, Bd. 18, 1935]'). During his studies of geography in the early 30s he was head of the socialist student association in Vienna. In times of Nazism he was deprived of his academic degree on July 14th, 1942 with the racist argument, that he as a Jew was not considered dignified an academic degree of a German university ('eines akademischen Grades einer deutschen Hochschule unwürdig'). His brother Hermann Langbein survived hin imprisonment in the concentration camp Auschwitz [Oswiecim]. After 1945 he was head of the "Wörterbuchstelle" in the Austrian national publishing company and central secretary of the Austrian-sovjet Association.
It took 13 years since the deprivation – and a very long time since the end of Nazism – until the regranting of the doctorate took finally place on May 15th, 1955.

Lit.: KNIEFACZ/POSCH 2017a.

Herbert Posch