International Academy for the Promotion of Scientific Research

Recently Professor Murray Eiland, Ph.D., a former president of the IAPSR, attended the CARA Conference at the Royal Society and British Academy

Murray (IAPSR Delegate to Great Britain) states:

CARA stands for the Council for Assisting Refugee Academics. It has a broad remit, there is no geographical restriction. There are many countries and groups within nations that can persecute academics for their orientation. This may be based on their ethnic group, religion - or most likely in an age of nation states - their political affiliation. While today most academics in need of assistance are from the Middle East and Africa, this was not always the case. The two day conference held at the British Academy (4th-5th December 2008) titled: “In Defence of Learning: The Past and the Present” served as a good introduction to the history of an organization that has helped individuals, and as was so aptly presented, boosted scholarship worldwide. Two thousand eight is the 75th anniversary of the organization, established as the Academic Assistance Council and then the Society for the Protection of Science and Learning. From the early years there were roughly 1,500 refugees who were assisted. As a measure of their contribution to their host country, 18 won Nobel Prizes, 14 received knighthoods, and over 100 were elected to the Royal Society or the British Academy. Many more made lasting contributions in the sciences and humanities. Others, after a stay in Britain, emigrated to America and beyond where they continued their work. But what of the wider impact of the organization, on a personal level?

The conference was introduced by a short evening lecture on Dec. 3 that addressed some of the wider issues of assisting academic refugees. The President of the Royal Society, Lord Rees of Ludlow OM Kt PRS, noted that it was appropriate that the Royal Society and the British Academy host the anniversary conference. Since the beginning these two organizations gave meeting rooms and office support to what would become CARA. He introduced the keynote speaker Dr. Ralph Kohn, FRS FMedSci, FRAM. Dr. Kohn is well known as a pharmacist, and has wide ranging interests in other areas. He is a noted benefactor, and is one of the few Honorary Fellows of the Royal Society. He is also a musician of professional standard, having produced CD recordings, and is particularly well known for lieder. There is an extensive website with his life and work: http://www.ralphkohn.com/index.php. Dr. Kohn largely dealt with the early years of CARA (I will not use the acronyms of the earlier organizations for the sake of clarity). As early as 1933 there was a perceived need to assist academics – many of them Jewish – fleeing from persecution. However, at first at least, there was no real pressure. Most observers assumed the crisis would be of short duration and normalcy would prevail. At the time few realized there would be a threat to life and not just professional status.

In Germany there were those who objected, but they were rapidly silenced. Max Planck tried to argue the importance of Jews to science, and was told by Hitler, famously, that Germany could do without science for a few years. German universities were (and largely are) linked to the civil service. Unlike the independent model in the Anglo Saxon world, universities had to respond immediately to government decrees like the one dismissing Jews from public offices. In time, many of these academics found positions elsewhere. The title of the keynote lecture: “Nazi persecution – Britain’s gift” refers to this enforced brain drain and the impact it had on Britain. Dr. Kohn noted that his parents were ahead of the majority, and assumed Hitler’s policies would be a serious problem. They moved from Leipzig to Amsterdam and caught ‘the last ship out’ to Liverpool in 1940. While not academics, Dr. Kohn was influenced by many refugee academics in his studies in the UK. Indeed, the world had reason to be thankful that academic refugees from Germany were allowed to contribute. Their efforts in the sciences and their impact on the Allied war effort are known. Perhaps less well known is the impact these refugees had on the arts and humanities. Dr. Kohn ended his lecture with a brief listing of names and accomplishments. Indeed, something for the founding members of CARA to be proud of.

The next morning Professor David Zimmerman discussed CARA’s early years. Due to political considerations, CARA did not openly criticise Germany, nor did the board have any Jewish members. This was done so that the organization would not be proscribed by the Germany government. This allowed Germans to freely correspond with CARA. The support offered at this early stage was small. No public funding was involved. Universities may have been able to offer space, but stipends were paid by CARA, £180 pounds a year for an unmarried academic, and £250 for a family. Grants were initially only for a year. A considerable amount of this money was raised by the Jewish community, though again the official statements from the organization did not consider the issue of religion. At the time the organization was attacked from the left for not doing enough. The right noted that it endangered British jobs. Large corporations at this stage did not donate money, as they feared reprisals from the German government. The future did not seem bright.

Individuals such as Leo Szilard played a critical role in the early years, and this was the next lecture topic covered by William Lanouette. Szilard appreciated that the new movement in Germany would present a serious problem. He diverted a considerable amount of time away from his scientific work in physics and molecular biology to pressure individuals. While he never had official status himself he was something of a gadfly from his base in the Imperial Hotel. Professor Gallo Pallo, a Hungarian himself, noted the many contributions made by Hungarian scientists. Many were Jews who went to Germany to further their scientific careers in the 1920’s and were caught in the political turmoil leading up to the second world war. Next, a short presentation by the CARA council followed on Tess Simpson, administrator of CARA. Of Jewish background, but a member of the Society of Friends, she directly assisted refugee academics though correspondence. She helped a few regain their freedom after being interred by the British government as enemy aliens. Finally, she left her flat to CARA, which provided much needed funds to a growing organization.

Professor Gustav Born discussed refugee scientists in a new environment. The speaker is the son of the well known Nobel Prize winner Max Born. He discussed the contributions, in particular to the war effort, of refugee scientists. These included Sir Ernst Boris Chain a German born British biochemist who left Germany in 1933. He is best known for his research into making penicillin fit for medial use. While Alexander Fleming described penicillin, up to that date there was no way to isolate and concentrate it. He also theorized on the structure of the drug, which was confirmed by x-ray crystallography studies for which he shared the Nobel Prize in 1945. Also noted was Hans Adof Krebs. Also a Jew forced out of his homeland, he is known for his identification of the urea cycle and the citric acid cycle. The latter won him the Nobel Prize in 1953. He is described as a very personable man who attracted a number of students to him. He not only was a scientific pioneer, he established a school of thought. In a similar vein Sir Ludwig Guttman was one of the leading neurologists in Germany before the war. When he came to Britain he founded the National Spinal Injuries Centre near London, which rehabilitated returning soldiers. His central theory was that sport was central in rehabilitation. His Stoke Mandeveille Games for the disabled would become the Paralympic Games. For his many contributions to society he was awarded the OBE and CBE. In many instances it is not possible to categorize the achievements of high achievers.

Next Professor Paul Weindling discussed the role of A.V. Hill and the Royal Society and Refugee Scientists. This was a very personal recollection, as the speaker’s mother, Erica Guttmann came to Britain under the Kindertransport program and stayed with the family of Professor Hill. There is a website devoted to her life: http://www.nature.com/bdj/journal/v194/n10/full/4810207a.html. Next came a presentation by Georgina Ferry based on research for her book Max Perutz and the Secret of Life (published by Chatto & Windus). Max Perutz is best known for winning the Nobel Prize in 1962 for his research elucidating the structure of haemoglobin. He founded the Cambridge based Laboratory of Molecular Biology that produced so many Nobel Prizes as well He was famous for his insistence that scientific creativity cannot be organized: “Well-run laboratories can foster it, but hierarchical organisation, inflexible, bureaucratic rules and mountains of futile paperwork can kill it.” Indeed more administrators should learn from this statement.

Professor Reinhard Siegmund Schultze discussed the fate of refugee mathmaticians. He noted that most ended up in the USA. Only about 15% stayed in the UK, while about 70% went to the US. Part of this is due to higher salaries. There was also academic anti-semetism. At the same time British universites did not fully accpet Germany PhD degrees. The rest of the conference took place in paralell sessions. Dr. Antoon De Baets took on the large topic of 20th century contributions by refugee historians. He noted that some see exile as a blessing in disguise. It can afford a scholar cotemplation that can refresh perspectives. Creativity can be enhanced from insecurity. In his studies of 764 refugees from over 60 countries, he noted that many academics changed careers or became involved in politics. Most historians, being trained in the history of their country, did not find academic homes elsewhere. Their loss was thus a bigger loss to their home country than a gain for the host country. As a rule, humanists, deprived of archives and study materials they would have used, switched to the history of ideas. This lecture was very though provoking and led to much discussion. Dr. Oswyn Murray noted the career of Arnaldo Momigliano. An emigree from Germany, his daughter was in the audience. He was a great master of English academic prose who formulated a new way of looking at history. In keeping with the times, he explored the conflicting ideals of liberalsm and national purpose. He is popularly known for his book reviews in the New York Review of Books (http://www.nybooks.com/authors/2645). He was made honorary KBE in recognition of his contribuitons.

The latter part of the conference was a mixed bag. Professor David Josephson discussed the fate of refugee musicians. He noted that, despite being more anti-semetic than Germany, many musicans returned to Vienna after the war. Britian could only obsorb a small number of the best musicians. Many more, perhaps not superlative, ended up teaching in smaller American institutions. Dr. Gerald Kreft discussed the contributions of Philip Schwartz. He helped to found the Notgemeinschaft, which united regional and disciplinary organizations to represent German science as a whole. It has the same function today, and is central for raising funds from the central government as well as German industry. Finally Dr. Susan Cohen discussed the Refugee Committee of the British Federation of University Women during the war.

The first day of the conference aptly presented the past, and made the future clear. Today CARA assists academic refugees in many ways. Many academics find that their qualifications are not recognized in the UK. They may also lack the necessary language skills. CARA will fund a period of study that would be required to convert to or obtain a UK qualification. Although figures are difficult to come by, CARA has to date assisted some 9000 academics. Further details can be found here: http://www.academic-refugees.org/about-cara.asp.

681 Figure 1. Dr. Kohn addressed the Royal Society.
683 Figure 2. Professor Born on the second day of the conference.
690 Figure 3. Dr. Antoon De Baets
693 Figure 4. Dr. Oswyn Murray.