Scientific, bibliometric and biographical analysis of 71 Jewish and dissident pharmacologists persecuted in Germany between 1933 and 1945

Abstract

Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Archives of Pharmacology, founded in 1873, is the oldest pharmacological journal. This study sheds light on the influence of persecution and expulsion of Jewish and dissident German pharmacologists during the Nazi era (1933-1945) on their scientific work and publication behaviour. The analysis is based on the German-language book 'Verfolgte deutschsprachige Pharmakologen (persecuted German-speaking pharmacologists) 1933-1945' by Trendelenburg and Löffelholz (2008), which contains short biographies of 71 persecuted pharmacologists. We analysed their publication activity from 1900 to 1980, the topics of the publications and the emigration data. Most persecuted pharmacologists emigrated, with two peaks of emigration around 1933 and 1938. Most pharmacologists emigrated to the USA, followed by Great Britain. Five of the scientists who emigrated to Great Britain were elected to the British Pharmacological Society's Pharmacology Hall of Fame, and one of them was a Nobel Laureate. Very few of the emigrated pharmacologists returned to Germany. After the Nazis came to power in 1933, the share of papers by persecuted pharmacologists in Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Archives of Pharmacology dropped sharply. At around 1936, several of the persecuted pharmacologists began to publish increasingly in the American competitor journal, the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. The persecuted pharmacologists who emigrated to Great Britain had a major influence on the British Journal of Pharmacology, founded in 1946, as initially, they accounted for a high proportion of publications. We further analysed the papers published in Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Archives of Pharmacology by persecuted pharmacologists between 1933 and 1945. About half of these papers were submitted from abroad, indicating that despite the persecution and repression, papers from persecuted pharmacologists previously working at German institutes were still published during this period. Most of the papers by persecuted pharmacologists published from German institutes during this period were published under regime-critical or politically persecuted institute directors. Persecuted pharmacologists covered a huge spectrum of scientific topics, highlighting their immense scientific impact. After World War II, Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Archives of Pharmacology lost much of its previous thematic diversity for decades. Overall, our analyses highlight the enormous loss to German pharmacology due to the persecution, exclusion and expulsion of 'non-Aryan' pharmacologists. Conversely, pharmacology of the USA and Great Britain benefited greatly from the emigration of distinguished scientists from Germany.

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