We all know the grotesque project of the extermination camps during the Second World War. But in the prewar buildup, the persecution was of a different kind: Jews were hounded and humiliated. Academics with Jewish ancestry found their careers in ruins. The best of them left, seeking less intolerant cultures in Britain and the United States. A torment for those that fled, this policy was also a self-inflicted wound. German science was crippled. Despite a formidable industrial base and engineering tradition, Germany was unable to keep pace with the innovations that emerged from Britain and the
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