Occupation as Social Practice and Ambiguous Space: The Lives of Ludwik Hirszfeld and Jan Czochralski in Warsaw, 1939–44

Steffen, Katrin (1967– )

doi:2450-8462

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Occupation as Social Practice and Ambiguous Space: The Lives of Ludwik Hirszfeld and Jan Czochralski in Warsaw, 1939–44 Steffen, Katrin (1967– )

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Occupation as Social Practice and Ambiguous Space: The Lives of Ludwik Hirszfeld and Jan Czochralski in Warsaw, 1939–44

Acta Poloniae Historica T. 125 (2022), In Memory of Professor Włodzimierz Borodziej

Steffen, Katrin (1967– )

Polska Akademia Nauk. Komitet Nauk Historycznych ; Polska Akademia Nauk, Instytut Historii im. Tadeusza Manteuffla

Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences

Instytut Historii Polskiej Akademii Nauk

Warszawa

2022

p. 99-132

Hirszfeld, Ludwik (1884-1954) - biographies ; Czochralski, Jan (1885-1953) - biographies ; Eigensinn ; Warsaw (Poland) - 1939-1945 (War and occupation) ; Warsaw Ghetto (Warsaw, Poland) ; clandestine teaching - Poland - Warsaw - 1939-1944

This article evaluates the situation of two renowned scientists in Poland, namely the microbiologist and serologist Ludwik Hirszfeld (1884–1954), and the metallurgist Jan Czochralski (1885–1953), during the time of the German occupation from 1939–45. Both scientists strove to continue their scientific work even under the conditions of occupation but faced substantially different treatment by the occupiers: Hirszfeld was forced to live in the Warsaw Ghetto, while Czochralski was allowed to stay in his home and work at the former Technical University of Warsaw. The article takes a comparative approach and will analyse the life situation of both scientists. This means looking at the limits of action for both scientists on one side, and on the other, at the room for manoeuvre, which, under the conditions of a brutal occupation, either emerged for the two of them or they actively created.

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