Review of 'Ark of Civilization: Refugee Scholars and Oxford University, 1930-1945'

Abstract

In the opening decades of the twentieth century, Germany was at the cutting edge of arts and humanities scholarship across Europe. However, when many of its key thinkers - leaders in their fields in classics, philosophy, archaeology, art history, and oriental studies - were forced to flee to England following the rise of the Nazi regime, Germany's loss became Oxford's gain. From the mid-1930s onwards, Oxford could accurately be described as an 'ark of knowledge' of western civilization: a place where ideas about art, culture, and history could be rescued, developed, and disseminated freely. The city's history as a place of refuge for scientists who were victims of Nazi oppression is by now familiar, but the story of its role as a sanctuary for cultural heritage, though no less important, has received much less attention. In this volume, the impact of Oxford as a shelter, a meeting point, and a centre of thought in the arts and humanities specifically is addressed, by looking both at those who sought refuge there and stayed, and those whose lives intersected with Oxford at crucial moments before and during the war. Although not every great refugee can be discussed in detail in this volume, this study offers an introduction to the unique conjunction of place, people, and time that shaped Western intellectual history, exploring how the meeting of minds enabled by libraries, publishing houses, and the University allowed Oxford's refugee scholars to have a profound and lasting impact on the development of British culture. Drawing on oral histories, previously unpublished letters, and archives, it illuminates and interweaves both personal and global histories to demonstrate how, for a short period during the war, Oxford brought together some of the greatest minds of the age to become the custodians of a great European civilization. Oxford's Ark: World War II Refugees in the Arts and Humanities, Sally Crawford, Katharina Ulmschneider, and Jaś Elsner I. General 1: Pfeiffer, Fraenkel, and Refugee Scholarship in Oxford during and after the Second World War, Jaś Elsner 2: Academic Refugees in Wartime Oxford: An Overview, Anthony Grenville 3: Welcoming and Supporting Refugee Scholars: The Role of Oxford's Colleges, Laurence Brockliss 4: Out of the Archives: Oxford, the SPSL, and Literae Humaniores Refugee Scholars, Philip Davies 5: Networks of Association: The Social and Intellectual Lives of Academics in Manx Internment Camps During World War II, Harold Mytum II. Archaeology and Philology 6: Otto Brendel and the Classical Archaeologists at Oxford, Katharina Lorenz 7: 'The Bund' and the Oxford Philological Society, 1939-45, Sally Crawford and Katharina Ulmschneider 8: Brian Shefton: Classical Archaeologist, David Gill 9: The 'Cheshire Cat': Paul Jacobsthal's Journey from Marburg to Oxford, Katharina Ulmschneider and Sally Crawford 10: Eduard Fraenkel (1888-1970), Christopher Stray III. History 11: Arnaldo Momigliano on Peace and Liberty (1940), Oswyn Murray 12: Rudolf Olden in Oxford, Charmian Brinson and Marian Malet 13: 'I shall snuffle about and make relations': Nicolai Rubinstein, the Historian of Renaissance Florence, in Oxford during the War, Kate Lowe 14: Karl Leyser, Oxford, and Wartime, Conrad Leyser IV. Art and Music 15: Becoming Artists: Ernst Eisenmayer, Kurt Weiler, and Refugee Support Networks in Wartime Oxford, Fran Lloyd 16: Milein Cosman at the Slade, Ann Rau Dawes 17: From Onchan to Oxford - An Émigré Journey: Heinz Edgar Kiewe, Rachel Dickson 18: Bringing Asia to Oxford: Dr William Cohn and the Museum of Eastern Art, Alexander Cullen 19: Shipwrecked on the Island of the Blessed: Egon Wellesz's New Beginnings in Wartime Oxford, Bojan Bujic V. Philosophy and Theology 20: Jacob Leib Teicher between Florence and Cambridge: Arabic and Jewish Philosophy in Wartime Oxford, Anna Teicher 21: Philosophy in Exile: The Contrasting Experiences of Ernst Cassirer and Raymond Klibansky in Oxford, Graham Whitaker VI. Publishing 22: German-speaking Refugee Publishers in Oxford: Phaidon, Bruno Cassirer, and the Oxford University Press, Anna Nyburg 23: A New Start - The English Publishing House Bruno Cassirer Oxford (1940-90). A Bibliographical Examination, Rahel Feilchenfeldt