{"id":12404,"date":"2026-06-16T09:44:55","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T07:44:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/budrich.de\/en\/?p=12404"},"modified":"2026-05-27T16:50:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T14:50:00","slug":"interview-garz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/budrich.de\/en\/news\/interview-garz\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThe autobiographies clearly show how a group of people were gradually stigmatized and fell under the control of a power that ignored all democratic principles.\u201d \u2013 Interview with Detlef Garz"},"content":{"rendered":"

Detlef Garz\u2019s \u201cLives Interrupted \u2013 The Nazi Takeover and Autobiographical Testimonies from the 1939 Harvard Prize Competition<\/a>\u201d sheds light on a remarkable yet little-known collection of autobiographical accounts written by emigrants from Nazi Germany and Austria. Based on manuscripts submitted to a 1939 Harvard University competition, the book explores experiences of persecution, resistance, exile, and resettlement \u2014 offering a powerful insight into lives disrupted by National Socialism and the lasting impact of moral misrecognition. We have conducted an interview with Detlef Garz.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dear Detlef Garz, what is your book \u201cLives Interrupted \u2013 The Nazi Takeover and Autobiographical Testimonies from the 1939 Harvard Prize Competition\u201d about?<\/h3>\n

The book focuses on life histories in the form of autobiographical narratives by people who were forced to emigrate from Nazi Germany between 1933 and 1939\u2014and who were able to do so. These are people who were persecuted for racist and\/or political and occasionally religious reasons and who, as those directly affected, give very detailed accounts of their lives before and after January 30, 1933, as part of a \u2018scientific prize competition\u2019 launched in 1939 by three scholars at Harvard University.
\nIt describes both the competition and its circumstances, as well as four selected narratives in detail, before concluding with a presentation of the processes of dishonor and an outlook on their further course of life under the motto \u2018What became\u2019.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The book was first published in German. What prompted you to have it published in English as well?<\/h3>\n

There are three main reasons: Overall, (1) the materials, both the academic prize competition and the autobiographies, are hardly known, even though they are among the last detailed reports by emigrants from Nazi Germany. This is (2) despite the fact that the competition was organized by a US institution, Harvard University, and (3) that about 70% of the participants emigrated to the US.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What questions can the autobiographical accounts of those who were forced into exile help to answer?<\/h3>\n

What happened on a societal level? The autobiographies clearly show how a group of people were gradually, first slowly and then increasingly rapidly, stigmatized and fell under the control of a power that ignored all democratic principles.
\nWhat happened on an individual level? The dramatic struggle for recognition, both as human beings and as citizens, is vividly portrayed. The loss of certainties that were once considered unchangeable becomes apparent. It also becomes clear how differently men and women often reacted to this situation. The men tended to be hesitant, while the women tended to be proactive\u2014this applied both to the period before emigration and to the period in the country of emigration.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Is there anything we can learn from these experiences about how to deal with the rise of far-right movements today?<\/h3>\n

I believe that the most convincing and still valid answer to this question was given by Theodor W. Adorno in his 1966 radio lecture \u2018Education After Auschwitz\u2019, which was accompanied by a request, maybe a call to action.
\n\u201cThe premier demand upon all education is that Auschwitz not happen again. … Yet the fact that one is so barely conscious of this demand and the questions it raises shows that the monstrosity has not penetrated people\u2019s minds deeply, itself a symptom of the continuing potential for its recurrence as far as peoples\u2019 conscious and unconscious is concerned\u201d.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Who would you recommend this publication to?<\/h3>\n

I would hope that the following groups of people would find the book interesting. First of all: the \u2018common reader\u2019, i.e., everybody who likes to read and learn. But the book is also aimed at scholars, historians, researchers on anti-Semitism and the Holocaust, as well as social scientists who deal with biographies and their interpretation. And, of course, I would like teachers at all school levels, up to and including universities, to include this book in their curriculum.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

About Detlef Garz<\/h4>\n

\"PortraitI retired as a professor at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in 2016. Since June 2021, I have been a senior professor at Christian Albrechts University in Kiel, where I conduct research on life histories and migration.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/h4>\n

Order \u201cLives Interrupted \u2013 The Nazi Takeover and Autobiographical Testimonies from the 1939 Harvard Prize Competition\u201d in our shop or download as e-book<\/h4>\n

\"Cover<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Lives Interrupted \u2013 The Nazi Takeover and Autobiographical Testimonies from the 1939 Harvard Prize Competition<\/a><\/p>\n

by <\/em>Detlef Garz<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Detlef Garz\u2019s \u201cLives Interrupted \u2013 The Nazi Takeover and Autobiographical Testimonies from the 1939 Harvard Prize Competition\u201d sheds light on a remarkable yet little-known collection of autobiographical accounts written by …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":12421,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1017],"tags":[3203,3204,3205,210,3206,3207,3208,3209],"class_list":["post-12404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-5-questions","tag-3203","tag-autobiographies","tag-harvard-university","tag-migration","tag-mis-recognition","tag-nazi-germany","tag-persecution","tag-scientific-prize-competition"],"yoast_head":"\n\u201cThe autobiographies clearly show how a group of people were gradually stigmatized and fell under the control of a power that ignored all democratic principles.\u201d \u2013 Interview with Detlef Garz - 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