Johann (auch Hans, eigentlich János) Rosenberg

• Born on: 5.9.1912
• Birthplace: Budapest
• Category: Doctorate program
• Right of domicile: Wikitsch (Bácsbokod),

The English version is based on a translation by Artificial Intelligence. The authentic version is considered to be the German version.

Johann (actually János) was the son of Mathias or Mátyás Rosenberg, who was director and between 1931 and 1944 procurator of the Bácsbokoder Walzmühle und Trockenanlagen-Aktiengesellschaft (Bacsbokodi hengermalom és száritótelepek részvénytársaság) based in Budapest, at least from 1925. Furthermore, Mátyás was a member of the board of the Central Hypotheken-Bank ungarischer Sparkassen during the interwar period, which was also located in Budapest.

Between 1922 and 1927, Johann attended the Szent-István-Realgymnasium, founded in 1901, located in the 7th district of Budapest, known as Elisabethstadt, right next to the city forest. Subsequently, he was a student until 1930 at the Realgymnasium in Baja/Frankenstadt, named after the Hungarian King Béla III, which was founded in 1757 and has been maintained by the Cistercian Order since 1879. Immediately after obtaining his high school diploma, Johann Rosenberg enrolled at the University for World Trade in Vienna for the six-semester diploma program, intending to earn the title "Doctor of Commercial Sciences" after obtaining the degree of “Diplomkaufmann.” In fact, he was registered at the ‘Welthandel’ for eight semesters between the winter semester 1930/31 and the summer semester 1936. The diploma certificate was issued on June 3, 1935. At least in the summer of 1935, he lived at Rathausstraße 15/14 (1st district of Vienna), in a representative building that the famous Jewish architect Wilhelm Stiassny built in 1881/82 in the style of the Viennese Neorenaissance.

The subsequent doctoral study, in which Johann Rosenberg wrote a dissertation reviewed by the extraordinary professor of business administration Karl Seidel and the regular professor of business administration Franz Dörfel on The Cost Problem in Connection with Capital Requirement and Employment Degree in the Milling Industry from the Perspective of Profit Generation, he was, however, unable to complete: In the course of the racially motivated persecution of Jewish students, he was denied admission to the two mandatory final examinations after the 'Anschluss' of Austria on June 15, 1938. His student record card succinctly notes: “As a Jew [,] not admitted to the exams.” It is noteworthy that Rosenberg's dissertation nevertheless entered the review process on September 1, 1938. However, Dörfel requested a revision in November, and in mid-December 1938, the university ultimately informed Rosenberg that due to the requirements of the “superior authority,” he had to take his final exams by the end of the year - a demand that was practically impossible to fulfill, especially given the Christmas break. As a result, his promotion in Vienna failed, and the title of Doctor of Commercial Sciences remained denied to Johann Rosenberg. Whether he was able to implement his plan to continue and complete his doctoral studies at another university is unknown. Such an intention was already complicated by the 'Welthandel' apparently not complying with his repeatedly expressed request to send him his documents like the registration book, confirmation of presentations, or his dissertation, which he needed for enrollment.

The further fate of Johann Rosenberg is unknown. Unfortunately, it cannot be definitively clarified whether that János Rosenberg is the former student of the University for World Trade, whose name is recorded on one of the memorial plaques at the former synagogue in Baja, which are dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Shoah.

Author: Johannes Koll
Support in research: Katharina Graf

Source material

Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien, Universitätsarchiv, Studierendenkarteikarte, Alte Prüfungsliste und Allgemeine Akten 1938.
Compass. Finanzielles Jahrbuch 1925, Bd. 3: Jugoslavien, Ungarn, Zagreb 1925, S. 1564.
Compass. Finanzielles Jahrbuch 1931: Ungarn – Pénzügyi évkönyv 1931: Magyaroszág, 64. Jg., Wien 1931, S. 891.
Compass. Finanzielles Jahrbuch 1944. Ungarn – Pénzügyi évkönyv 1931: Magyaroszág, 77. Jg., Wien 1934, S. 767.
Compass. Finanzielles Jahrbuch 1928. Personenverzeichnis, Wien 1928, S. 1371.
Meldeauskunft des Wiener Stadt- und Landesarchivs, GZ MA 8 – B-MER-513982-2018.
Johann Rosenberg: Das Kostenproblem im Zusammenhange mit Kapitalbedarf und Beschäftigungsgrad in der Mühlendindustrie vom Standpunkte der Gewinnerzielung, unveröffentlichte Dissertation, Hochschule für Welthandel: Wien 1938, Bibliothek der Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien, Sign. 40454-C.
E-Mail von László Zalavári (Ady Endre Városi Könyvtár, Baja) an PD Dr. Johannes Koll (WU Wien) vom 30. November 2023.