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Erschienen in:
13.03.2020 | Geschichte der Pathologie
The Jewish oral pathologist Bernhard Gottlieb (1885–1950) and his scientific “uprooting” in the Third Reich
Erschienen in: Die Pathologie | Sonderheft 1/2021
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When Adolf Hitler annexed Austria to the German Reich in 1938, the famous Jewish oral pathologist Bernhard Gottlieb was in great distress. The Viennese university teacher immediately lost his employment and teaching authority and was forced to emigrate.
While Gottlieb’s exceptional scientific position in oral pathology is well documented, the complex implications of his deprivation of rights and forced emigration in the Third Reich have so far received little attention. Against this background, the present contribution poses the question of the concrete effects of this drastic event on Gottlieb’s life and work.
In order to clarify this question, Gottlieb’s career status, his scientific success up to 1938, the concrete background of his forced emigration, as well as the further course of his life and career in the USA (his immigration country) are scrutinized. In addition, the paper analyzes the extent to which Gottlieb was able to build on his professional career after 1945 and posthumously. The work is based on a thorough analysis of Gottlieb’s academic career using archival sources and a re-analysis of the relevant research literature.
The study concludes that Gottlieb suffered a severe setback after his emigration. Several reasons played a role. In particular, cultural and age-related adjustment problems, difficult local conditions, and scarce financial resources hampered the seamless continuation of Gottlieb’s career in the USA. Only in the last two decades have efforts been made, particularly in the environment of the University of Vienna, to bring Bernhard Gottlieb and his scientific achievements back into collective memory.