Emergency Committee in Aid of Displaced Foreign Scholars
Encyclopedia
The Emergency Committee in Aid of Displaced Foreign Scholars, (1933–1941), assisted scholars who were barred from teaching, persecuted and threatened with imprisonment by the Nazis. The Institute of International Education
appointed Edward R. Murrow
to lead the effort. In the first two years of the Committee's existence, Murrow received requests for help from educators and researchers across Europe. The program expanded to include Austria
, Czechoslovakia
, Norway
, Belgium
, the Netherlands
, France
and Italy
. Over 300 scholars were rescued, some of whom became Nobel Laureates in diverse fields such as literature, medicine, and Physics. As well as many whose work and ideas helped shape the post-war world.
In 1932, at age 24 and well before he began his broadcast career, Murrow was hired as Assistant Director by IIE's founder and Director, Stephen P. Duggan
. Murrow's main assignment at IIE was to identify European scholars who were at risk in their home countries and arrange for them to lecture and teach at U.S. colleges and universities. It was first called the Emergency Committee in Aid of Displaced German Scholars, and later expanded to help other “Displaced Foreign Scholars” fleeing Nazi repression throughout Europe. Hundreds of European scholars were successfully relocated to America, with support from the Rockefeller Foundation
and Carnegie Foundation
, and generous hosting by American campuses. Murrow worked with the Emergency Committee until early 1937, overlapping the first year of his long career at CBS News
. Murrow would go on to serve as a member of IIE’s Board of Trustees until his death in 1965.
The Emergency Committee would prove to be the early forerunner of IIE’s Scholar Rescue Fund
, which was established in 2002.
Fritz Reiche (1883–1969) was a German theoretical physicist. He completed his higher education at the University of Berlin under Max Planck (1858–1947); his subsequent work at the University of Breslau was with Otto Lummer (1860–1925);
he returned to Berlin in 1911, where he completed his Habilitation thesis in 1913, married Bertha Ochs the following year, became a friend of Albert Einstein (1879–1955), and worked during and immediately after the Great War. In 1921 he was appointed as Ordentlicher Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Breslau and worked there until he was dismissed in 1933. He spent the academic year 1934–1935 as a visiting professor at the German University in Prague and then returned to Berlin, where he remained until, with the crucial help of his friend Rudolf Ladenburg (1882–1952) and vital assistance of the Emergency Committee in Aid of Displaced Foreign Scholars,
he along with his wife Bertha, and their daughter Eve were able to emigrate to the United States in 1941 (their son Hans had already emigrated to England in 1939). From 1941-1946 he held appointments at the New School for Social Research in New York, the City College
of New York, and Union College
in Schenectady, New York, and then was appointed as an Adjunct Professor of Physics at New York University
, where his contract was renewed year-by-year until his retirement in 1958.
.
Institute of International Education
Institute of International Education - is a non-profit organization promoting international exchange of education and training. It was established in 1919 and is based in the USA....
appointed Edward R. Murrow
Edward R. Murrow
Edward Roscoe Murrow, KBE was an American broadcast journalist. He first came to prominence with a series of radio news broadcasts during World War II, which were followed by millions of listeners in the United States and Canada.Fellow journalists Eric Sevareid, Ed Bliss, and Alexander Kendrick...
to lead the effort. In the first two years of the Committee's existence, Murrow received requests for help from educators and researchers across Europe. The program expanded to include Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. Over 300 scholars were rescued, some of whom became Nobel Laureates in diverse fields such as literature, medicine, and Physics. As well as many whose work and ideas helped shape the post-war world.
In 1932, at age 24 and well before he began his broadcast career, Murrow was hired as Assistant Director by IIE's founder and Director, Stephen P. Duggan
Stephen P. Duggan
Stephen Pierce Duggan, Sr. was a professor of diplomatic history at the College of the City of New York, who founded The Institute of International Education in 1919, together with Nobel Laureates Elihu Root and Nicholas Murray Butler. Stephen P. Duggan, Sr...
. Murrow's main assignment at IIE was to identify European scholars who were at risk in their home countries and arrange for them to lecture and teach at U.S. colleges and universities. It was first called the Emergency Committee in Aid of Displaced German Scholars, and later expanded to help other “Displaced Foreign Scholars” fleeing Nazi repression throughout Europe. Hundreds of European scholars were successfully relocated to America, with support from the Rockefeller Foundation
Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...
and Carnegie Foundation
Carnegie Corporation of New York
Carnegie Corporation of New York, which was established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 "to promote the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding," is one of the oldest, largest and most influential of American foundations...
, and generous hosting by American campuses. Murrow worked with the Emergency Committee until early 1937, overlapping the first year of his long career at CBS News
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of American television and radio network CBS. The current chairman is Jeff Fager who is also the executive producer of 60 Minutes, while the current president of CBS News is David Rhodes. CBS News' flagship program is the CBS Evening News, hosted by the network's main...
. Murrow would go on to serve as a member of IIE’s Board of Trustees until his death in 1965.
The Emergency Committee would prove to be the early forerunner of IIE’s Scholar Rescue Fund
Scholar Rescue Fund
The Scholar Rescue Fund provides fellowships for established scholars whose lives and work are threatened in their home countries. These fellowships permit professors, researchers and other senior academics to find temporary refuge at host universities and colleges anywhere in the world, enabling...
, which was established in 2002.
Notable Scholars
- Paul TillichPaul TillichPaul Johannes Tillich was a German-American theologian and Christian existentialist philosopher. Tillich was one of the most influential Protestant theologians of the 20th century...
(August 20, 1886 – October 22, 1965) - Martin BuberMartin BuberMartin Buber was an Austrian-born Jewish philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of religious existentialism centered on the distinction between the I-Thou relationship and the I-It relationship....
(February 8, 1878 – June 13, 1965) - Jacques MaritainJacques MaritainJacques Maritain was a French Catholic philosopher. Raised as a Protestant, he converted to Catholicism in 1906. An author of more than 60 books, he helped to revive St. Thomas Aquinas for modern times and is a prominent drafter of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights...
(18 November 1882–28 April 1973) - Herbert MarcuseHerbert MarcuseHerbert Marcuse was a German Jewish philosopher, sociologist and political theorist, associated with the Frankfurt School of critical theory...
(July 19, 1898 – July 29, 1979) - Kurt LewinKurt LewinKurt Zadek Lewin was a German-American psychologist, known as one of the modern pioneers of social, organizational, and applied psychology....
(September 9, 1890 - February 12, 1947) - Otto NathanOtto NathanOtto Nathan was an economist who taught at Princeton University , New York University , Vassar College , and Howard University .Dr...
(1893–1987) - Hans MorgenthauHans MorgenthauHans Joachim Morgenthau was one of the leading twentieth-century figures in the study of international politics...
(February 17, 1904 – July 19, 1980) - Thomas MannThomas MannThomas Mann was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and 1929 Nobel Prize laureate, known for his series of highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intellectual...
(6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) - Max DelbruckMax DelbrückMax Ludwig Henning Delbrück was a German-American biophysicist and Nobel laureate.-Biography:Delbrück was born in Berlin, German Empire...
(September 4, 1906 – March 9, 1981) - Felix BlochFelix BlochFelix Bloch was a Swiss physicist, working mainly in the U.S.-Life and work:Bloch was born in Zürich, Switzerland to Jewish parents Gustav and Agnes Bloch. He was educated there and at the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule, also in Zürich. Initially studying engineering he soon changed to physics...
(October 23, 1905 – September 10, 1983) - James FranckJames FranckJames Franck was a German Jewish physicist and Nobel laureate.-Biography:Franck was born to Jacob Franck and Rebecca Nachum Drucker. Franck completed his Ph.D...
(26 August 1882 – 21 May 1964)
Fritz Reiche (1883–1969) was a German theoretical physicist. He completed his higher education at the University of Berlin under Max Planck (1858–1947); his subsequent work at the University of Breslau was with Otto Lummer (1860–1925);
he returned to Berlin in 1911, where he completed his Habilitation thesis in 1913, married Bertha Ochs the following year, became a friend of Albert Einstein (1879–1955), and worked during and immediately after the Great War. In 1921 he was appointed as Ordentlicher Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Breslau and worked there until he was dismissed in 1933. He spent the academic year 1934–1935 as a visiting professor at the German University in Prague and then returned to Berlin, where he remained until, with the crucial help of his friend Rudolf Ladenburg (1882–1952) and vital assistance of the Emergency Committee in Aid of Displaced Foreign Scholars,
he along with his wife Bertha, and their daughter Eve were able to emigrate to the United States in 1941 (their son Hans had already emigrated to England in 1939). From 1941-1946 he held appointments at the New School for Social Research in New York, the City College
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
of New York, and Union College
Union College
Union College is a private, non-denominational liberal arts college located in Schenectady, New York, United States. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents. In the 19th century, it became the "Mother of Fraternities", as...
in Schenectady, New York, and then was appointed as an Adjunct Professor of Physics at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
, where his contract was renewed year-by-year until his retirement in 1958.
Trivia
Murrow’s work with the Institute of International Education played a key role in the plot of the film Good Night and Good Luck, produced, directed and written by George ClooneyGeorge Clooney
George Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award...
.