Wilhelm Gray

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Wilhelm Grau (born August 4, 1910 in Straubing , † October 9, 2000 in Alzey ) was a German historian, anti-Semitic National Socialist functionary in supposedly scientific institutes for the persecution of Jews and after 1945 a publisher .

In the Weimar Republic

As a teenager, Grau was a member of the Catholic youth association New Germany . In the summer semester of 1930, Wilhelm Grau began studying history and ethnology at the University of Frankfurt , where he attended lectures by Ludwig Bergstrasse , Paul Tillich and Walter Platzhoff , among others . During this time, his landlord, Reinhold Lindemann , who worked as a theater critic for the Rhein-Mainische Volkszeitung and in 1935 became dramaturge and press spokesman for the Frankfurt Municipal Theaters, provided him with a traineeship in the editorial office. Meanwhile, Grau found the climate at Frankfurt University “too intellectual”; in the winter semester of 1931 he moved to Munich.

In National Socialism

Nazi career with elimination of Jewish competition

In 1934 Wilhelm Grau received his doctorate with the anti-Semitic work Anti-Semitism in the Middle Ages: The End of the Regensburg Jewish Community 1450–1519 with the Munich historian Karl Alexander von Müller . He relied almost exclusively on documents and files that the Jewish historian Raphael Straus had collected in the course of his own long-term research. Straus' book about these documents was about to be published in 1932 as documents and files on the history of the Jews in Regensburg 1453–1738 when Wilhelm Grau contacted him as an unknown student. He introduced himself as a democrat who wanted to become a liberal journalist after completing his studies and asked for the proofs for this book on loan. Straus then made these proofs available to the young student Grau for the alleged staging of an exhibition. However, Grau did not organize an exhibition, but used the documentary material that had been gathered in a long research for his book.

Meanwhile, the National Socialists came to power. Straus was threatened. He had to flee the country in June 1933. Gray had not returned the proofs to him by then. In the foreword of the book, Grau thanks Straus for lending them the proofs and reports that he had given them to the Bavarian State Archives. Grau omits that Straus had to leave the country and why he had not returned the documents to Straus.

Grau had reinterpreted Straus' material in his book in an anti-Semitic sense. He tried to prove that the Jews were a morally inferior race and never belonged to Germany. In doing so, he included characteristics of National Socialist anti-Semitism in his investigation and tried in many places in his book to prove that the people of the Middle Ages felt disgust for the Jews. In the first edition of his book, Grau describes a picture by the artist Albrecht Altdorfer (died 1538). Grau claims that the Jewish figures in the picture "show off their style through 'Jewish nose and Jewish clothing'". In the foreword to the second revised edition from 1939, Grau attributed an "anti-German" attitude to the "Jew Straus" and denied him being able to write the history of "German medieval anti-Semitism".

What happened next can no longer be precisely reconstructed. It seems that Grau first tried to take over the publication of the document book, which was decisive for his doctoral thesis, as the co-editor responsible for the final correction himself. In May 1938, when the second edition of his book Antisemitism in the Middle Ages appeared, things seemed different. He tried in several ways to get hold of the proofs of Straus' book, which was to be printed by Schocken Verlag. When the book was almost finished printing, the Reichspogromnacht came. During this pogrom the print shop was closed. In May 1939 the sheets of the 90 percent completed work were confiscated by the Gestapo. It was not possible to determine to what extent Grau was involved. In post-war Germany, the historian Helmut Heiber, in his book Walter Frank and the Reichsinstitut for the history of the new Germany, "completely unquestioned" adopted Graus's assertion in an interview that he had supported the publication of a Jew, namely Straus', during the NS- Time used. On June 27, 1937, Grau received his habilitation with the also anti-Semitic book about Wilhelm von Humboldt and the problem of the Jews , which was published in 1935 . Previously, there had been strong concerns in the faculty about Graus's academic qualification. The colloquium on obtaining the habilitation was negative for Grau, but Graus' good political relations with the National Socialist rulers pushed through the acceptance of the actually failed habilitation.

In 1936, Straus reported from exile in Palestine with a criticism of Grau's book in issue 1/1936 of the magazine for the history of Jews in Germany . Grau forced a reply in number 4/1936 of the magazine and threatened Jewish scientists with persecution. In the same number, the magazine also had to print an appreciation of Graus' later habilitation thesis, which was limited to an icy summary. A year later the magazine was banned.

Professional anti-Semite

Grau joined the NSDAP on May 1, 1937 ( membership no. 5,951,121). When it was founded in 1936, he became managing director of the Munich-based anti-Semitic “Research Department Jewish Question ”, a branch of the National Socialist “ Reich Institute for the History of the New Germany ” in Berlin , headed by Walter Frank . One of the first tasks of the institute was to collect documents on the personal and family history of the Jews. So created z. B. from February 1937 Franz Stanglica for Grau Regesten in Austria and employed the Austrian National Socialists Kurt Zeilinger and Walter Messing . The construction of a special library was also begun, which at the end of the war contained around 35,000 titles. In 1936 Grau received a rubric in the prestigious historical journal , published by his doctoral supervisor Karl Alexander von Müller , with the title History of the Jewish Question , in which he wrote his own articles and also reviewed books. In addition, from issue 4/1936 onwards, Grau regularly wrote articles in the journal of the history teachers' association, Past and Present, which was brought into line . At the time, Wilhelm Mommsen was still co-editor. Grau was also an observer at the trial of the young David Frankfurter on behalf of Joseph Goebbels ; he provided the civil status information to the Reich clerkship office , was the author of anti-Semitic textbooks and a consultant for the traveling exhibition The Eternal Jew . In addition, he wrote memoranda for Adolf Hitler and acted as an informer for " Jewish misfits " in the Foreign Office .

His ambition brought him into conflict with Walter Frank. Because of this, Grau had to leave the Reichsinstitut in 1938. From January 1940 he worked in the Rosenberg office. From June 1940, Grau organized the robbery of Jewish and Masonic libraries in occupied Paris on behalf of the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg . For this activity, Grau was awarded the War Merit Cross Second Class by Adolf Hitler on May 1, 1942, along with 13 other members of the Rosenberg Einsatzstab . From autumn 1940 to October 1942, Grau was head of the " Institute for Research on the Jewish Question " in Frankfurt , which was founded by Rosenberg. In October 1942, Grau was released from this institute under pressure from Martin Bormann . From 1942 to 1945 he was drafted into the Air Force .

In the Federal Republic of Germany

Nothing is known about Grau's captivity after the war and his denazification . After 1945, Grau first became head of Universum Verlag . In 1951 Grau acquired the Rheinhessische Druckwerkstätte in Alzey and was its manager. In 1964, Grau and others founded the Alzeyer history sheets , which are run by the Altertumsverein für Alzey und Umgebung e. V. were issued.

Fonts (selection)

In the Soviet zone of occupation added to the list of literature to be sorted out:

  • Anti-Semitism in the late Middle Ages: The end of the Regensburg Jewish community 1450–1519. 1st edition, Duncker & Humblot, Munich 1934. 2nd, exp. Edition. Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1939.
  • Wilhelm von Humboldt and the problem of the Jew. Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt, Hamburg 1935.
  • The Jewish question as a task of new historical research. 2nd edition with an afterword. Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt, Hamburg 1935.
  • The Jewish question in German history. Teubner, Leipzig 1937 (further editions).
  • The Jewish question in German history. In: past and present . Monthly for history lessons and political education. from issue 4, year 26, 1936, in several sequels.
  • Research into the Jewish question. Task and organization. (= Small World Battle Library. 3). Hoheneichen-Verlag , Munich 1943
  • The historical attempts to solve the Jewish question. (= Small World Battle Library. 4). Hoheneichen-Verlag, Munich 1943

literature

  • Matthias Berg : “Can Jews do a doctorate at German universities?” The “Jew researcher” Wilhelm Grau, the Berlin University and the right to award doctorates for Jews under National Socialism. In: Jahrbuch für Universitätsgeschichte 11 (2008), pp. 213–227.
  • Matthias Berg: "Altered historical image": Jewish historians on "Jewish research" Wilhelm Graus. In: Yearbook of the Simon Dubnow Institute. 5 (2006), pp. 457-485.
  • Matthias Berg: Wilhelm Grau. In: Michael Fahlbusch , Ingo Haar and Alexander Pinwinkler (eds.): Handbuch der Völkischen Wissenschaften. Actors, networks, research programs. With the assistance of David Hamann. 2nd, fundamentally expanded and revised edition. De Gruyter Oldenbourg, Berlin / Boston 2017, ISBN 978-3-11-043891-8 , pp. 229-235.
  • Michael Grüttner : Biographical Lexicon on National Socialist Science Policy (= Studies on Science and University History. Volume 6). Synchron, Heidelberg 2004, ISBN 3-935025-68-8 , p. 63.
  • Patricia von Papen-Bodek: Research on Jews and the persecution of Jews. The habilitation of the managing director of the research department Jewish question, Wilhelm Grau, at the University of Munich 1937. In: Elisabeth Kraus (Hrsg.): The University of Munich in the Third Reich. Essays. (= Contributions to the history of the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich. Vol. 4). Vol. 2, Utz, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-8316-0727-3 , pp. 209-264.
  • Dirk Rupnow : 'Aryanization' of Jewish History. On the National Socialist "Jewish Research". In: Leipzig contributions to Jewish history and culture. Vol. 2, Universitätsverlag, Leipzig 2004, pp. 349–367.
  • Dirk Rupnow: "Research on Jews" at the University of Leipzig. In: Stephan Wendehorst (Ed.): Building blocks of a Jewish history of the University of Leipzig (= Leipzig contributions to Jewish history and culture. Vol. 6). Universitätsverlag, Leipzig 2006, ISBN 3-86583-106-0 , pp. 345–376.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Dieter Schiefelbein: The "Institute for Research on the Jewish Question Frankfurt am Main". Prehistory and foundation 1935–1939. Frankfurt am Main 1993, p. 26f.
  2. ^ Wilhelm Grau: Anti-Semitism in the late Middle Ages: The end of the Regensburg Jewish community 1450–1519. Duncker & Humblot, Munich 1934.
  3. ^ Patricia von Papen-Bodek: Research on Jews and persecution of Jews. The habilitation of the managing director of the research department Jewish question, Wilhelm Grau, at the University of Munich 1937. In: Elisabeth Kraus (Hrsg.): The University of Munich in the Third Reich. Essays. Munich 2008, pp. 209–264, here: p. 236.
  4. ↑ Matthias Berg: "Altered historical image": Jewish historians on "Jewish research" Wilhelm Graus. In: Yearbook of the Simon Dubnow Institute , Vol. 5. 2006, pp. 457–484, here: p. 475.
  5. ^ Patricia von Papen-Bodek: Research on Jews and persecution of Jews. With reference to Helmut Heiber, p. 234, fn. 103.
  6. ^ Anti-Semitism in the Middle Ages: one word pro domo . In: Journal for the History of the Jews in Germany. Berlin, issue 1. 1936 can be viewed on the website compactmemory ( Memento from January 6, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) ( direct link to the journal, there No. 1/1936 article Straus ( Memento from February 10, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )) in Internet viewable.
  7. ↑ "Anti-Semitism in the Middle Ages": a word against Raphael Straus. In: Journal for the History of the Jews in Germany 1936, Issue 4. Retrieved on July 18, 2016 . ( pdf )
  8. ↑ ( Page no longer available , search in web archives: Journal for the History of Jews in Germany ). 1936 / issue 4, book review by Fritz Friedländer p. 249 available on the Internet.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.compactmemory.de
  9. ↑ Dieter Schiefelbein: The "Institute for Research on the Jewish Question Frankfurt am Main". Frankfurt 1993, ISBN 978-3-88270-803-5 , p. 27. (Source: Personnel file Grau, curriculum vitae, p. 4.)
  10. ^ Max Weinreich: Hitler's Professors - the part of scholarship in Germany's Crimes against the Yewish people . Yewish Scientific Institute YIVO , New York 1946, pp. 48f.
  11. ↑ bibliotheksdienst.zlb.de ( Memento from June 9, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  12. ↑ Operations staff Reichsleiter Rosenberg for the occupied territories: Orders and notifications 1942, July 15, 1942 No. 4. From the digitized files of the Federal Archives NS 30/3 No. 1 - 6 1942.
  13. ^ Wilhelm Grau. In: Michael Grüttner: Biographical Lexicon for National Socialist Science Policy (= Studies on Science and University History. Vol. 6), Heidelberg 2004, ISBN 3-935025-68-8 , p. 63.
    He himself reported on the library: The structure the library for research on the Jewish question in Frankfurt am Main. In: Zentralblatt für Bibliothekswesen 59 (1942), H. 11/12, pp. 484–494.
  14. ^ Ernst Klee: The dictionary of persons on the Third Reich. Who was what before and after 1945. Fischer TB, Frankfurt 2005, ISBN 3-596-16048-0 , p. 197.
  15. ↑ polunbi.de
personal data
SURNAME Gray, Wilhelm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German historian and ethnologist
DATE OF BIRTH 4th August 1910
PLACE OF BIRTH Straubing
DATE OF DEATH October 9, 2000
Place of death Alzey