Biografický slovník obětí nacistické perzekuce z řad vědecké obce v českých zemích 1939-1945. Svazek I (A-K) – Kostlán Antonín (2019)

The fates of scientists persecuted during the Nazi occupation and throughout World War II have so far been presented to the Czech public selectively and without adequate historical evaluation. This gap has long been addressed by the systematic research of the Center for the History of Science at the Institute for Contemporary History of the Czech Academy of Sciences, resulting in a two-volume dictionary that provides the first comprehensive biographical overview of direct victims among prominent scientists active in the Czech lands, regardless of their origin, nationality, place of work, or field. Through specific human stories, it demonstrates the unprecedented interventions in the personnel composition of the local scientific community during this period. Given that these experts represented a significant part of the social elite of interwar Czechoslovakia, the work allows for a better understanding of the application of discontinuous mechanisms in the development of Czech society in the 20th century. The first volume contains biographical profiles of 71 significant scientific figures who died as a result of Nazi atrocities between 1939 and 1945. Each profile is supplemented by a detailed list of archival sources and a bibliographic inventory.