Description
Object description
Hungarian physicist with Universities of Berlin and Breslau in Germany, 1929-1933; worked at Clarendon Laboratory in Oxford, GB, 1933-1945
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Budapest, Hungary, 1908-1926: family; education; grandfather's anti-Semitic experiences during 1920s; family's religious and political outlook; French governess's reaction to German bombardment of Paris, France during First World War; political struggles and early days of the Hungarian Republic, 1919; sister's involvement with Communist Party and subsequent arrest; decision to become physicist. Aspects of period as student with Sorbonne, Paris, France and Universities of Berlin and Breslau in Germany, 1926-1933: decision to study at the Sorbonne in Paris; plans and advice recieved for studying aboard; background to studying at University of Berlin.
REEL 2 Continues: story of obtaining work as research assistant, 1929; move to University of Breslau, 1931; comparison of atmosphere in Berlin and Paris; rise of the Nazis in Breslau; anti-Semitic incidents; sharing salary and taxes with German; reaction to election of Adolf Hitler as chancellor, 1933; story of sister being banned from GB for Communist activities, 1936; Professor Franz Simon's decision to leave Nazi Germany, 1933; question of reasons for high achievement amongst Hungarian Jews; reasons for Professor Franz Simon choosing GB.
REEL 3 Continues: Recollections of period as physicist with Clarendon Laboratory in Oxford, GB, 1933-1945: minor difficulties experienced on arrival at Newhaven, 15/9/1933; initial impressions of Oxford; opinion of British Government's attitude towards refugees; contrast between British and European customs; lack of contact with University of Oxford until 1945; integration of academic refugees; atmosphere in Clarendon Laboratory; accommodation and living standards; group of German emigres in Oxford.
REEL 4 Continues: relations with colleagues; degree of contact with Jewish community; awareness of situation in Europe; decision to help refugees; obtaining naturalisation, 1939; sister's later life in Hungary; opinion of British Government's internment of refugees, 1940; comparison of refugee experiences in First and Second World Wars; wife's background and career; question of concepts of 'refugee' and 'home'; reaction to post-war visits to Germany and Hungary.