Peter Schulze (historian)

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Peter Schulze (* 1952 ) is a German historian and author . He is considered to be "an expert on the history of the Jewish inhabitants and the Jewish communities in Hanover ".

Life

Peter Schulze studied social science and history at the University of Hanover , where he also received his doctorate in 1997 . His work focuses on the history of the city ​​of Hanover and the history of the Jews in Hanover . He researches and publishes on these topics and curated several exhibitions on individual topics .

In the 1990s and 2000s Schulze took part in a research project at the Bremen State and University Library , which aimed to determine the owners of 1,600 books in the library that were owned by Jewish refugees. It was about emigration goods that Jewish emigrants had stored in the freight halls of the Bremen free port during the time of National Socialism and had to leave behind when they left. Most of this property was confiscated by the Gestapo and auctioned off at so-called "Jewish auctions", with some of the books on offer being acquired by the Bremen State Library. In the case of later inquiries from emigrants, on the other hand, the Bremen authorities maintained, until the 1950s, that the emigrated property had allegedly been lost in bombing raids during the Second World War .

Those with “Jud. A. ”marked volumes were then“ discovered ”in 1991 in the library holdings of the Bremen State Library. Thereupon the SUB carried out a systematic research in order to return this “looted property” to the previous owners or their descendants - as far as these could be determined. With this research project, the Bremen State and University Library became a “pioneer” of follow-up activities at other German libraries. Part of this book collection had ownership notes and dedications, which made it possible to return around 290 books to the descendants of the former owners.

Some traces in a series of these books led to Hanover, where Peter Schulze succeeded in reconstructing the fate of individual books and their former owners. Among other things, eleven books by him could be assigned to the Jewish Hanoverian citizen Henry Seligmann (1880–1933), who was known as a coin dealer . Seligmann died in 1933; his widow entered into a second marriage and emigrated to the USA with her second husband shortly after the Night of the Reichspogrom in November 1938 . Her emigration goods, which were then “lost” in the Bremen free port, also included 135 books as mementos from her deceased husband.

Overall, Schulze was able to shed light on the fate of 38 Jewish emigrants from Hanover and, in several cases, books were returned to their descendants, including eleven volumes of "Seligmann's books". The book returns that were made in the 1990s met with great public interest - not only as a “symbolic act of reparation”, but also because of the high emotional significance of these memorabilia for the owner families - and several reports were reported in the media around the world . As a result, Schulze created the traveling exhibition "Seligmanns Bücher", which was shown for the first time in 1999 in Hanover. At the beginning of 2005, the results of the research project were presented in a public exhibition in the Bremen State and University Library, for which Schulze revised his traveling exhibition and supplemented it with some books and documents, and also appeared as a speaker.

Guided tours by Peter Schulze in June / July 2010 through the Old Jewish Cemetery on Oberstrasse

Schulze worked as a city guide in Hanover on local history topics such as guided tours of the Old Jewish Cemetery , the Jewish Cemetery An der Strangriede and the new Jewish Cemetery Bothfeld , which he has offered and carried out repeatedly since then. In 2006 he took part in the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e. V. Guided tours of the Stöcken city cemetery , where around 2000 war graves from the First and Second World Wars are located.

When the "rolling exhibition" Train of Remembrance stopped at the main train station in Hanover in January 2008 and could be viewed there, Schulze took part in the accompanying program with historical tours in the old preaching hall at the Jewish cemetery at An der Strangriede in Hanover- Nordstadt .

Publications (selection)

  • City Lexicon Hanover . From the beginning to the present . Editor: Klaus Mlynek / Waldemar R. Röhrbein , Schlütersche Verlagsgesellschaft, Hanover 2009, ISBN 978-3-89993-662-9 . (Editorial assistance, author of individual contributions)
  • with Ulf Brückner, Elmar Schürmann: Lawyer without rights. The fate of Jewish lawyers in the district of today's Oldenburg Higher Regional Court . Isensee, Oldenburg 2007, ISBN 978-3-89995-415-9 .
  • Search for clues. Expropriated books as historical sources . In: Thomas Elsmann (Ed.): In the footsteps of the owners. Acquisition and return of books by Jewish owners using the example of Bremen . State and University Library Bremen, Bremen 2004 (= writings of the State and University Library Bremen, Vol. 5), pp. 69–95.
  • Book of memory. The German, Austrian and Czechoslovak Jews deported to the Baltic States. Vol. 1 and 2 . Publisher: Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e. V. , Riga Committee of German Cities , Foundation New Synagogue Berlin - Centrum Judaicum , Memorial House of the Wannsee Conference ; Ed .: Wolfgang Scheffler / Diana Schulle, K. G. Saur Verlag, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-598-11618-7 , text in German and English. (Cooperation)
  • The exhibition “Seligmann's books”. Expropriated books as historical sources . In: Lower Saxony Landtag (ed.): Jewish book possession as booty. Symposium in the Lower Saxony state parliament on November 14, 2002 . Lower Saxony State Parliament, Hanover 2003 (= series of publications by the Lower Saxony State Parliament, No. 50), pp. 11–16.
  • With shield of David and menorah. Pictures of Jewish graves in Braunschweig, Peine, Hornburg, Salzgitter and Schöningen. Exhibitions 1997–2002 . DGB-Region SüdOstNiedersachsen, Braunschweig 2003 (= regional trade union papers , issue 18).
  • Contributions to the history of the Jews in Hanover . Hahn, Hannover 1998, ISBN 3-7752-4956-7 (= Hannoversche Studies , Volume 6).
  • Names and fates of the Jewish victims of National Socialism from Hanover . Association for the promotion of knowledge about Jewish history and culture V., Hanover 1995.
  • Not the time to rest. Documents and pictures on the history of the Hanoverian workers' movement 1814-1949 , ed. from the metal industry union for the Federal Republic of Germany, administrative office Hanover, Hanover: Verlag Buchdruckwerkstätten Hanover, 1990, ISBN 3-89384-007-9
  • Jews in Hanover. Contributions to the history and culture of a minority. Texts and pictures from the exhibitions "Jews in Hanover" and "Historical Torah curtains from Hanover's former synagogues" in the old preaching hall . Cultural Office of the City of Hanover, Hanover 1989 (=  Cultural Information No. 19).
  • About the history of the Jewish cemetery at An der Strangriede . Separate article on: Jews in Hanover . Cultural Office of the City of Hanover, Hanover 1989.
  • "... that the Jews in our lands choose a rabbi ...". Contribution to the 300th anniversary of the establishment of the Hanover regional rabbinate on March 10, 1987 . Regional Association of the Jewish Communities of Lower Saxony and the Jewish Community of Hanover, Hanover 1987.

Exhibitions (selection)

  • Seligmann's books. On the late return of the property of Jewish refugees from Hanover - State and University Library Bremen (2005; expanded version of the 1999 exhibition); Osnabrück University Library (2008)
  • Jewish gravestones in the northern part of the city - Hanover (2004)
  • Synagogues in Hanover - Hanover and Hameln (both 2004)
  • Seligmanns books - City Archives Hannover (1999); German Library in Leipzig (2000); Lower Saxony State Library in Hanover (2002)
  • Historical Torah curtains from Hanover's former synagogues - Hanover-Nordstadt (1989)
  • Jews in Hanover - Hanover-Nordstadt (1988)

literature

  • Regine Dehnel (Ed.): Jewish book ownership as looted property . Verlag Vittorio Klostermann, Frankfurt am Main 2006 (= Journal for Libraries and Bibliography, Vol. 88), ISBN 3-465-03448-1 , pp. 278, 294.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Alexander Meister: Stolen memories. About books that never made it to America . Radio feature , SWR 2 , first broadcast on April 29, 2004.
  2. ↑ a b c d e Seligmann's books. About the late return of the property of Jewish refugees from Hanover. State and University Library Bremen , June 4, 2005, archived from the original on March 30, 2007 ; Retrieved June 26, 2010 .
  3. ↑ a b c d e Detected and returned: Seligmanns Bücher. (PDF) In: Press release. State and University Library Bremen , January 2005, archived from the original on April 14, 2005 ; Retrieved June 26, 2010 .
  4. ^ Regine Dehnel (ed.): Jewish book possession as looted property . Frankfurt am Main 2006, p. 278.
  5. ↑ a b Schulze, P .: With David's shield and menorah: images of Jewish graves in Braunschweig, Peine, Hornburg, Salzgitter and Schöningen; Exhibitions 1997 - 2002 . Regional union newspapers. DGB Region Southeast Lower Saxony, 2003 ( Google_books ).
  6. ↑ Old Predigthalle in the Jewish cemetery on Strangriede. (PDF; 208 kB) In: Program Hannover. Train of Remembrance , January 2008, accessed June 26, 2010 .
personal data
SURNAME Schulze, Peter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German historian, author and collaborator at the Hannover City Archives
DATE OF BIRTH 1952