Leo Polak

Leonard Polak 1925

Leonard Polak (born January 6, 1880 in Steenwijk ; † December 9, 1941 in Sachsenhausen concentration camp near Oranienburg ) was a Dutch philosopher , humanist and free thinker .

Life

Polak studied at Leiden University Law and completed his degree in 1903 " cum laude " from. He received his doctorate in 1921 with a dissertation on "De zin der vergelding" (The meaning of retribution). He then worked as a private lecturer in epistemology at the University of Amsterdam . He married Henriëtte Antoinette Schwarz (1893–1974), one of the heiresses of the Polak & Schwarz essence factory. They had three daughters. In 1925 Leo Polak became "bijzonder hoogleraar" (special professor - externally funded) at the University of Leiden for Philosophy and Law. Three years later he was appointed professor of philosophy at the University of Groningen , succeeding Gerard Heymans . In the mid-twenties he became active as a free thinker and member of the Dutch league of atheists 'De Dageraad' (The Daybreak). Among other things, he gave readings on the topic on the VRO radio (Vrijdenkers Radio Omroep - Freidenker Hörfunk).

Polak, who is considered a Neo Kantian , was elected chairman of the board of the Dutch Kant Society in 1931 . For him philosophy was above all a science of the unity of knowledge. Philosophical problems must and can be dealt with in a rational way. Based on the Stoa and Spinoza , he represented the autonomy of the subject. In ethics, as in law , the mind is the source of unchangeable objective rules and norms. Polak's main areas of work were legal philosophy , especially criminal law , and sexual ethics . Polak condemned war as the greatest evil of our time, which no rational argument can justify. Punishments can only be justified through redistributive justice .

Polak fell victim to the Nazi regime soon after the Wehrmacht invaded the Netherlands . In November 1940 he was no longer allowed to teach because of his Jewish origins. However, he ignored this ban, continued his lectures at home, and his students attended as if nothing had happened. He complained to the university that he was no longer included in the general university distribution list. The content of the letter, in which he called the Germans “de vijand” (the enemy), was passed on to the occupiers by the then rector of Groningen University, Johannes Marie Neele Kapteyn . Two months later, on February 15, 1941, he was arrested and, in May, taken to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp near Oranienburg, where he stayed for a good six months and, according to various statements, even gave lectures.

In December 1941, the day after an operation of a ruptured bowel , Polak died of physical exhaustion while carrying stones. His second daughter Jetteke also did not survive the war. His wife Henriette Polak-Schwarz (1893–1974) was able to go into hiding early enough and became known as a patroness after the war. Among other things, she was one of the founders of the humanistic AH Gerhardhuis Foundation, which took care of the accommodation of non-church seniors. In 1969, on her initiative, the Rosa Spier House, named after her friend Rosa Spier , was opened in Laren (North Holland) , a living and working facility for artists and scientists, and in 1975 the Henriette Polak Art Museum in Zutphen, named after her .

The University of Utrecht annually awards the Leo Polak Prize (Leo Polak Scriptieprijs), financed by the Leo Polak Foundation, for the best dissertation in the field of social sciences.

Fonts (selection)

• Kennisleer contra matter-realisme. Bijdrage tot "kritiek" en Kant term . Versluys, Amsterdam 1912 (epistemology versus materialistic realism)
• Oorlogsfilosofie . Versluys, Amsterdam 1915 (philosophy of war)
• Sexuele ethiek . Kosmos, Amsterdam 1936 (sexual ethics)
• Verzamelde work . Van Oorschot, Amsterdam 1947

1. De zin der vergelding, vol. 1 . Reprint d. Edition Amsterdam 1921 (Dissertation: The meaning of retaliation I)
2. De zin der vergelding, Vol. 2 . Reprint d. Edition Amsterdam 1921
3. Promised written, vol. 3 . 1947 (Collected Writings)
4. Promised written, vol. 4 . 1947.

literature

• Piet Spigt (Ed.): Prof. Mr. Dr. Leo Polak. An erflater van onze beschaving. Herdachtv door vrienden en collegæ followed by de voordracht de zin van de dood . GW Breugel, Amsterdam 1946.

Web links

• Gerard E. Langemeijer: Polak, Leonard (1880-1941) . In: Johannes Charité (Ed.): Biographical Woordenboek van Niederlande . Instituut voor Nederlandse Geschiedenis, The Hague 2005.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Jacques Presser : Ashes in the wind. The destruction of Dutch Jewry . Wayne State University Press, Detroit, Mich. 1988, ISBN 0-8143-2036-8 , pp. 56-57.