Migration and Transfer of Knowledge: Refugees from Nazism and Turkish Legal Reform

Abstract

Starting in 1933, Turkey reformed its judicial system as well as its system of higher education using refugees fleeing the Nazis and given a safe haven through formal government invitations. For these souls America was out of reach because of restrictive immigration laws and wide spread anti-Semitic hiring bias at its universities. Among the invited were several German legal scholars and economists who played a large role to further westernize the new Turkish Republic's legal code and tax legislation. This paper will discuss that epoch, its legacy, and perceptions thereof in Turkey today

Keywords: Turkey, Legal History, Educational Policy, Government Policy, Nazi persecution, Nazism, Holocaust, Migration, Diaspora, Exile