Historical documents uncovered by researchers at Aberdeen University have revealed how the ancient learning institution opposed Hitler’s Nazi regime in the lead up to the outbreak of World War II.
The handwritten minutes of meetings held by the university’s law faculty were recently discovered within leather-bound books deep within a storeroom at the King’s College campus.
They contain a request sent by Amsterdam University to law faculties across Europe and the United States asking for their support in a opposing the rising atmosphere of political, ethnic and religious persecution.
After receiving the request from the Netherlands, the Aberdeen team agreed unanimously to support their fellow university, and wrote to the then Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, as well as newspapers – including the Press and Journal – to highlight the issue.
Within the December 1938 to February 1939 minutes, modern day researchers found ominous mentions of people being “persecuted and tormented on account of their faith, race or political convictions”, as well as concern over “so-called concentration camps”.
Law lecturer Malcolm Combe, who has been studying the documents, said: “Old documents of this nature are always interesting, but these minutes are truly remarkable.
“They offer a fascinating account of the concerns that existed over the persecution of Jews and the dissenting political voices in the period leading up to the outbreak of the Second World War.
“While Aberdeen had the North Sea to keep it at a relative distance from Hitler’s gathering military might, the minutes show that the university was by no means inactive in the face of the challenges of the time.”
