Paul Friedländer
| Born: |
07-02-1891 |
| Faculty: |
Philosophical School |
| Category: |
Deprivation of academic degree |
Paul FRIEDLAENDER (born on July 2nd, 1891 in Baden/Lower Austria (or Weikersdorf/Lower Austria, mentioned in the Promotionsprotokoll), died in 1942 in the concentration camp Auschwitz [Oświęcim/Poland]), studied philosophy, sociology and art history at the Philosophical School of the University of Vienna. In 1917 he married fellow student Elfriede Eisler (Ruth Fischer), they got divorced in 1921. He graduated in Philosophy on December 21st, 1917 with the academic degree 'Dr. phil.' (dissertation: 'Studien über den Begriff der Notwendigkeit, rsp. Gesetzmaessigkeit, Kausalitaet'). During his studies he had joined the "Freie Vereinigung Sozialistischer Studenten".
At the end of 1918 Paul Friedlaender was co-founder of the Austrian Communist Party ("Kommunistische Partei Oesterreichs", KPOe) ans together with Franz Koritschoner chief editor of the party newspaper "Der Weckruf" (from January 1919: "Die soziale Revolution"). We was first elected member of the party executive from February until March 1919, then again in 1922. He left the executive board in 1926 because auf political differences an moved to Berlin/Germany. He became a member of the German Communist Party ("Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands", KPD) and wirkoed for several newspapers.
Paul Friedlaender was married to Martha Jakob (born in 1893) in second marriage, they had one son.
After the National Socialists came to power in Germany, he fled to Austria in March and to Paris/France in September. In Paris he wioked for the Foreign Bureau of the KPD and was a member of the World Board against war and fascism ("Weltkomitee gegen Krieg und Faschismus"). In September 1939 Friedländer was arrested and later interned at the cam Le Vernet. He protested against the Hitler-Stalin pact and dissociated himself from the policy of the KPD.
Supposedly in 1941 he was extradited to the Gestapo and deported to Auschwitz, where he died.
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 unwuerdig').
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 (posthumously).
Lit.: Paul Friedlaender, in: WEBER/HERBST 2004; RÖDER 1980.
Katharina Kniefacz
