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From the Editors: academia andgenocidedegrees of culpability

The university is a fragile entity; of all of societys institutions, it is the mostvulnerable to state manipulation, especially during genocidal crises. This wasespecially true during the decade of National Socialist rule in Germany. Withvirtually no exception, faculty senates of all German universities meekly complied

to Party wishes to purge themselves of their non-Aryan colleagues, thereby lit-erally losing their moral authenticity. And, when war brought down the ThirdReich, one of the first organizations to emerge seemingly unscathed from theruins were the universities. With but a few instances, faculty senates rapidlyreconstituted themselves; it was business (lecturing and researching) as usual.Accountability, if any, was sparse.

Little, if anything at all, was said about the hundreds (perhaps thousands) ofgraduates who had engaged in war crimes. Those bearing professional degreesphysicians, lawyers, engineersand who worked directly with the machinery ofthe Final Solution were allowed to retain their diplomas. Nothing was said aboutthe violation of the universities humanistic traditions. To this day, rosters of

past graduatescriminals or notinclude the names side by side. Is this right?Is this just? Is it honest history or camouflage? Are there no limits to a universitydiploma? Or may the institution, if warranted, revoke a degree?

Indeed, most of the upper ranks of the Nazi elite were university graduates fromworld class universities. Keeping in mind that Hitler (not a university graduate)was not excommunicated and died within the bosom of the Church, then whydeprive his henchmen of their hard-earned degrees and the status that accompaniesthe honour of a degree? Why indeed! Should not every German university excisefrom its records those who sullied the good name of the institution? Moreover,should not this principle of expunging of criminal graduates be applied to all uni-

versities who gave and continue to bestow their honours and academic blessings tomurderous tyrants? Until they do so, the charge of collaborating stands. Is it nothigh time to make inventories of those associated with universities and stateinduced mass criminality?

It should not be overlooked that the masterminds of the Khmer Rouge genocidalmassacres were all university trained. The same holds true of the politicians whowere architects of the violent break up of Yugoslavia. All the radical ethno-leadershad academic degrees. It is the same for Rwandas Hutu virulent anti-Tutsi cam-paigners. It holds true for the mass Sudanese murderers in Kabul. Should they notbe stripped of their academic recognition? Which leads to related questions that

deserve our serious attention, especially those of us engaged in university instruction.

Journal of Genocide Research(2008), 10(1),March, 12

ISSN 1462 3528 i t ISSN 1469 9494 li /08/010001 2 # 2008 R h N t k i G id St di

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