TUM opens commemorative space at its main campus

TUM remembers university members persecuted during the Nazi era

TUM critically confronts its own history in the National Socialist era. Now a new place of remembrance at the TUM main campus on Munich's Arcisstraße commemorates 17 members of what was then Technische Hochschule München who were expelled and persecuted by the Nazi regime. The memorial space includes information on the Technische Hochschule during the National Socialist era. Specifically, it documents the personnel, ideological and institutional changes of the time as well as the instrumentalization of the university in preparations for war. Topics covered include the expulsion of Jewish and politically undesirable scientists as well as the revocation of doctoral degrees and the conformity and self-mobilization of students, employees and professors under the National Socialist regime.

TUM President Hofmann said: "This place of commemoration and information is a part of our effort to keep alive the memory of the members of our university who were persecuted by the National Socialist regime. History teaches us that forgetting or repressing past crimes only paves the way for their recurrence. We thus want to continuously remind today's generation, and generations to come, how important it is to stand up for human rights, for the values of tolerance and freedom, for diversity and for the protection of democracy!"

President of the Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria, Dr. h.c. mult. Charlotte Knobloch, said: "This place of remembrance is being opened at exactly the right point in time. Since October 7, 2023 Jews have been experiencing an outbreak of hate which has taken on horrifying dimensions at universities in particular. When Jewish students can no longer enter their universities without fear and when serious calls are raised to break off relations with Israeli universities and scientists, it is not only survivors who are reminded of the sinister times addressed by the installation. In those days Jewish students and professors were dispelled from the universities, robbed of their livelihood – and ultimately deported and murdered. By dedicating a permanent space to commemorate these injustices, TUM is also creating a counterpoint to the dangerous developments now taking place in today's society. There is no place for antisemitism at TUM – This message is clear and unmistakable."