Just "one of so many"? The pathologist Theodor Fahr (1877-1945) and his ambivalent relationship to National Socialism.

Theodor Fahr is well known as a pioneer in renal pathology and the eponym of "Fahr's disease". While his professional merits are undisputed, his relationship to National Socialism remains unclear. On the one hand, he signed the public "oath of allegiance" of German professors to Adolf Hitler, on the other hand, he appeared as a mentor to his Jewish colleague Paul Kimmelstiel. In 1945, Fahr committed suicide after being dismissed by the Allied military government for political reasons. However, he left behind memoirs in which he outlined himself as a determined opponent of National Socialism. It is precisely these ambiguities that form the starting point of this study. The aim is to reconstruct Fahr's personal and professional career and to outline his political stance in the Third Reich. In addition, it will be clarified how Fahr's life and work were received after 1945 and whether (or how) his relationship to National Socialism was addressed. This study is based on different types of sources: Various archival documents on Fahr and Kimmelstiel are compared and contrasted with Fahr's unpublished autobiography and the available secondary literature on Fahr and his work. The analysis shows that Fahr's relationship to National Socialism became more distanced over time. However, he did not emerge as a critic of Nazi ideology during the Third Reich - even though he claimed in his memoirs that he had consistently despised Hitler. While Fahr is not to be considered an ardent National Socialist, he held to the stereotype of the "unscrupulous" Jew. The study concludes that Fahr was a politically ambivalent character with a distinctly anti-Semitic disposition, which he tried to soften by emphasizing his relationships with individual Jewish colleagues such as Kimmelstiel.

From emigration to remigration: The Jewish pathologist Fritz Meyer (1875-1953) and his extraordinary life course.

Fritz Meyer (1875-1953) is undoubtedly one of the most enigmatic pathologists and internists of his time: He emerged early as a major researcher in the field of infectious diseases. Later, he also focused on heart and lung diseases and became a celebrity doctor who treated ambassadors and prominent contemporaries of the United States. The course of his life was as unusual as his professional activities: At the beginning of the Third Reich, Meyer experienced far-reaching repression due to his Jewish ancestry, which led to forced emigration to the USA. Although he achieved professional success in his new homeland, he returned to Germany in 1948 - as one of very few Jewish emigrants from the Third Reich. This article takes these peculiarities as an opportunity to take a closer look at Fritz Meyer: It recapitulates the biography and scientific merits of the Jewish pathologist and pays special attention to the background of his emigration to the USA and his later remigration to Germany. The central basis of the study are contemporary newspaper articles and various archival sources evaluated for the first time. These sources are compared with the sparse secondary literature on Meyer and other persecuted pathologists. The results of the study can be summarized in five points: (1) Meyer's research on infectious diseases - especially diphtheria, tuberculosis and serum therapy - was considered leading-edge at the time. (2) Meyer suffered widespread repression after 1933, which led him to emigrate to the United States in 1935. (3) Thanks to influential contacts, he was able to continue his professional career in the U.S. almost seamlessly. (4) In the postwar period, he decided to return to Germany, mainly out of attachment to Europe. (5) His reintegration in Germany seemed to be successful - however, he died only a few years after his remigration. The analysis leads to the conclusion that Meyer's social reintegration in postwar Germany was significantly facilitated by his professional reputation and his largely apolitical demeanor in public; nevertheless, it can be shown that he secretly lamented the lack of consciousness of guilt of the German postwar population. Several indications cast doubt on his intention to remain permanently in Germany. This includes the fact that he held on to his U.S. citizenship until the end of his life and that his wife remained in the United States.