A week before the Summer Session starts and we remember the many who gave their lives for our freedom. As I think about those who died in war I started thinking about those whom our country has fought against. One of the greatest enemies was, I think we can all agree, Hitler and Nazi Germany.
There is a reason that I think of this.
Hitler and the Nazis were anti-intellectuals. If it did not serve their narrow world view, or their militaristic needs, they were opposed to it. Also, because of the ideology of Aryan superiority, they drove out all Jews, and others that they considered 'alien' from their universities. Many who were not Jewish left because they felt threatened by the rising tide of Nazism.
Whenever there are those that cry out against scientists and mathematicians I cringe. May we never again see anti-intellectualism rise to such a level again.
Here are some links to further investigate the effect that Nazism had on the academy in Germany.
Review of a book about Mathematicians fleeing Nazi Germany.
Nazis and Mathematics (online book)
Nazi Education
Mathematics in Nazi Germany
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