Dfkm. Dr. Leo Färber
- Born on: 10.4.1897
- Birthplace: Fratting (Vratěnín),
- Category: Doctorate program
The English version is based on a translation by Artificial Intelligence. The authentic version is the German version.
Leo was the son of Julie and Adolf Färber. With interruptions, he was enrolled at the University for World Trade between 1919 and 1932. Here he completed his diploma examination in November 1924.
His doctorate fell during the period of the 'Anschluss' of Austria: He could take the first rigorosum in the winter semester 1937/38, while the second rigorosum could only be completed in July 1938. Färber was one of the few Jewish doctoral candidates who were allowed by the Nazi regime to complete their doctorate after the Wehrmacht's invasion of Austria; this had to happen during the summer semester 1938. Thus, Färber was one of the seven Jewish doctoral candidates who were promoted at the 'University for World Trade' on July 12, 1938. According to a regulation of the Austrian Ministry of Internal and Cultural Affairs, which was then under the supervision of Reichsstatthalter Arthur Seyss-Inquart, the promotion of Jewish doctoral candidates was subject to a number of restrictions that were intended to strip this academic event of any dignity:
- The promotion had to take place in private;
- The candidates were not allowed to invite relatives or acquaintances to the promotion;
- The academic officials such as the rector and the promoter were required not to appear in academic robes;
- And instead of the usual oral sponsorship, the Jewish doctoral candidates had to take the oath in writing by signing a printed form.
- No speeches were allowed.
Färber's application for exemption from the obligation to print the dissertation on The correlation between freight costs and marketability of agricultural and forestry products and their influence on Austrian agriculture was rejected by the faculty, while a similar application from a non-Jewish doctoral candidate was indeed approved at the same time. According to § 5 of the dissertation regulations, it was possible for a doctoral candidate who was "unable to publish the dissertation even in extracts for economic reasons" and could additionally demonstrate that "he would suffer serious damage from the postponement of the promotion" to be exempted from the publication obligation. Although the Jewish population of the 'Ostmark' was systematically being robbed of their assets by the Nazi regime at that time, Färber was expressly obligated by the faculty to publish his doctoral thesis in the extent of three printed sheets. However, in agreement with his reviewers, Professors Franz Dörfel and Karl Oberparleiter, the work was finally published in the extent of two printed sheets. In the printed version, the word "Austrian" was omitted from the manuscript that Färber had once submitted to the University; this adjective reminded of a sovereignty that was no longer desired for political reasons with the 'Anschluss'.
Färber left the apartment at Georg-Siegel-Gasse 9/4 (9th district of Vienna), where he had lived since 1912, in mid-February 1939 to escape to Belgium. Presumably following the Western Campaign, Färber was caught again by the Nazis: He was captured and interned for twelve months in the concentration camp Gurs (Southern France).
After the Second World War, Färber returned to Vienna. In light of the persecution he had suffered during the Nazi period, he received a compensation payment through the "Fund for Assistance to Politically Persecuted (Relief Fund)".
His name is inscribed on the memorial, which was unveiled on 8 May 2014 on the campus of the Vienna University of Economics and Business.
Author: Johannes Koll
Source material
Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien, Universitätsarchiv, Studierendenkarteikarte und Akt Doktoren.
Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien, Universitätsarchiv, Professorenkollegiumssitzung zum 5. Juli 1938.
Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien, Katalog der Hauptbibliothek.
Meldeauskunft des Wiener Stadt- und Landesarchivs, GZ MA 8 – B-MRW-139676/2013.
Österreichisches Staatsarchiv, Archiv der Republik, Finanzen, HF, Zl. 3912.