Center for European Studies

The talk is about the treatment accorded by Germany’s most prestigious research organization, the Max Planck Society, after 1945 to scientists who had been dismissed from its predecessor, the Kaiser Wilhelm Society, during the years of National Socialism. It shows how conflicts over legal claims for compensation derived from a fundamental lack of understanding between the majority of German scientists and their persecuted colleagues. It also reveals the Max Planck Society’s lack of willingness to accept moral responsibility for its conduct between 1933 and 1945.