Eva Gabriele Reichmann (16 January 1897 – 15 September 1998) was an eminent German

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

and sociologist. From 1945 on she conducted research on

anti-Semitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

. Reichmann was Jewish.Obituary: Eva Reichmann
/ref>

Life

Eva Gabriele Reichmann (née ''Jungmann'') was born in Lublinitz (Upper-

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

) the daughter of Adolf and Agnes Jungmann. She was married to the lawyer Hans Reichmann. Between 1924 and 1939 both worked for the

Centralverein deutscher Staatsbürger jüdischen Glaubens The Centralverein deutscher Staatsbürger jüdischen Glaubens (also: Zentral-Verein, Central Verein, CV, C.V., C.-V.) (Central Association of German Citizens of Jewish Faith) was founded by German Jewish intellectuals on 26 March 1893 in Berlin, w ...

, one of the most important organisations focused on the protection of

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

in Germany. In 1938, in the course of the Novemberpogrome her husband was imprisoned in the

Sachsenhausen concentration camp Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoners t ...

. After that the couple emigrated to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1939. In London she worked as a translator for

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

tapping Tapping is a playing technique that can be used on any stringed instrument, but which is most commonly used on guitar. The technique involves a string being fretted and set into vibration as part of a single motion. This is in contrast to stand ...

service. In 1945 she earned her second doctorate at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

by the work ''Hostages of Civilization: A Study of the Social Causes of Anti-Semitism in Germany''. Therein she analysed the downfall of Germany's Jewish communities and described the specific

national socialist Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was frequen ...

ic anti-Semitism as an extreme example of a common

xenophobia Xenophobia (from (), 'strange, foreign, or alien', and (), 'fear') is the fear or dislike of anything that is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression that is based on the perception that a conflict exists between an in-gr ...

against religious-

ethnic minorities The term "minority group" has different meanings, depending on the context. According to common usage, it can be defined simply as a group in society with the least number of individuals, or less than half of a population. Usually a minority g ...

and as a compensation of a deep-rooted uncertainty of the German

patriotism Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and a sense of attachment to one's country or state. This attachment can be a combination of different feelings for things such as the language of one's homeland, and its ethnic, cultural, politic ...

. Although this explanatory approach of the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

is well differentiated nowadays and is not supported any more, her work did encourage further research on that topic substantially. As one of the first German speaking historians and persecuted Jews she collected and archived reports of persecuted Jewish people and was an eyewitnesses for the

Wiener Library The Wiener Holocaust Library () is the world's oldest institution devoted to the study of the Holocaust, its causes and legacies. Founded in 1933 as an information bureau that informed Jewish communities and governments worldwide about the pers ...

's research department. As its director she evaluated the minutes of the

Nuremberg Trials #REDIRECT Nuremberg trials {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from move ...

. At the same time she strongly engaged in the reconciliation of the survivors of the Holocaust and expelled German Jews with the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen constituent states have a total population of over 84 ...

. For this she was awarded the

Moses Mendelssohn Moses Mendelssohn (6 September 1729 – 4 January 1786) was a German-Jewish philosopher and theologian. His writings and ideas on Jews and the Jewish religion and identity were a central element in the development of the ''Haskalah'', or 'J ...

-Prize in 1982 and the

Great Cross of Merit Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" * Artel Great (bo ...

of Germany in the following year. Later she received the

Buber-Rosenzweig-Medal The Buber-Rosenzweig-Medaille is an annual prize awarded since 1968 by the Deutscher Koordinierungsrat der Gesellschaften für Christlich-Jüdische Zusammenarbeit (DKR; German Coordinating Council of Societies for Christian-Jewish Cooperation) to in ...

. She died in

. Reichmann is deemed to be an outstanding scientist, who, as an affected contemporary witness, began research on the development of the Holocaust directly after the end of the war and thereby contributed importantly to clarification and reconciliation. Her sister was

Elisabeth Jungmann Elisabeth Jungmann, Lady Beerbohm (1894 – 28 December 1958) was an interpreter and the secretary, literary executor and second wife of the writer, caricaturist and parodist Sir Max Beerbohm. Born to a German Jewish family in Lublinitz i ...

, the secretary and second wife of

caricaturist A caricaturist is an artist who specializes in drawing caricatures. List of caricaturists * Abed Abdi (born 1942) * Abril Lamarque (1904–1999) * Al Hirschfeld (1903–2003) * Alex Gard (1900–1948) * Alexander Saroukhan (1898–1977) * Alfre ...

and

parodist A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satirical or ironic imitation. Often its subject is an original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, etc), but a parody can also b ...

Max Beerbohm Sir Henry Maximilian Beerbohm (24 August 1872 – 20 May 1956) was an English essayist, Parody, parodist and Caricature, caricaturist under the signature Max. He first became known in the 1890s as a dandy and a humorist. He was the theatre crit ...

Works

*''Größe und Verhängnis deutsch-jüdischer Existenz. Zeugnisse einer tragischen Begegnung.'' Mit einem Geleitwort von

Helmut Gollwitzer Helmut Gollwitzer (29 December 1908 – 17 October 1993) was a German Protestant (Lutheran) theologian and author. Born in Pappenheim, Bavaria, Gollwitzer studied Protestant theology in Munich, Erlangen, Jena, and Bonn (1928–1932); he la ...

. Lambert Schneider, Heidelberg 1974 *''Hostages of Civilisation. A Study of the Social Causes of Antisemitism.'' Association of Jewish Refugees Information, April 1945 *German: ''Die Flucht in den Hass. Die Ursachen der deutschen Judenkatastrophe.'' Frankfurt am Main 1951 *Editor: ''Worte des Gedenkens für

Leo Baeck Leo Baeck (; 23 May 1873 – 2 November 1956) was a 20th-century German rabbi, scholar, and theologian. He served as leader of Reform Judaism in his native country and internationally, and later represented all German Jews during the Nazi ...

.'' Lambert Schneider, Heidelberg 1959

References

External links

Guide to the Eva Reichmann Collection
at the

Leo Baeck Institute, New York The Leo Baeck Institute New York (LBI) is a research institute in New York City dedicated to the study of German-Jewish history and culture, founded in 1955. It is one of three independent research centers founded by a group of German-speaking J ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Reichmann, Eva Gabriele 1897 births 1998 deaths Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom Alumni of the London School of Economics British women centenarians German women centenarians People from Lubliniec Jewish historians Historians of Jews and Judaism Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany People from the Province of Silesia 20th-century German historians German women historians 20th-century German women writers Jewish centenarians

Life

Works

See also

References

External links