SOMERTON MAN: TIBOR KALDOR, A MAN OF LETTERS

GRAZ UNIVERSITY SEAL

With thanks to the writer, WEDNESDAY, of a message left on this blog, we have dutifully followed up on the suggestion that was given.

Clive made the inquiries of Graz University and found that indeed, a man called Tibor Kaldor had attended there and had in fact been awarded his Phd in law, Doctor.Jur. in early 1933. Our man, it appears, was a lawyer. 

Whilst it does look very much like this is our man, we must also be mindful that in 1945, two men of similar age and also named Tibor Kaldor, died in Vienna after being released from one of the camps. The records from Graz have yet to reveal a description or photographs for us to compare.

The University was an imposing building and had at it's center a vast reading room which still exists today:

We now have 'probably' filled in a time gap, on the assumption that Tibor's University education would have taken some years to complete, we can make a qualified assumption that he would have been resident in Graz from around 1927 to at least early 1933. 

1933 was also the year that saw the beginnings of the expanded Nazification of Germany and Austria:

For Graz at least though, the years between 1933 and 1938 were relatively peaceful and life went on fairly normally for the Jewish inhabitants, Graz had been viewed as one of the oldest centers of Jewish culture dating back to the late 12th Century. Was it this then that attracted the young, and Jewish Tibor Kaldor to Graz to further his education? It does seem at odds with the contents of his last note which all-but outright denied his Jewish heritage and customs.

Apart from the cultural history of Graz, it was and still is a centre for advanced manufacturing although in the 1930's their main claim to fame would have been the PUCH cycle and motorcycle factory. A strong competitive spirit led to the formation of many motorcycle clubs and what we call these days, 'dirt bike' riding.

Then in April 1938, the city was visited by this man:

Within weeks the once idyllic life of this beautiful city began to decay as Nazism and a wave of 'patriotic' fervor accompanied by extreme anti-Semitism spread throughout Austria. 

November the 9th and 10th 1938 saw the culmination of this tide of evil, Kristallnacht: 

Both the main synagogue and the Ceremonial Hall in the Jewish Cemetry at Graz were burnt and with those events, the hopes and dreams of the entire Jewish population perished.

It was at this time, according to the records we have, that Tibor Kaldor began his journey first to Italy and then to London.

To this point, we do not know here Tibor lived or worked between 1933 and 1938, Clive is continuing his efforts to uncover more information.

For those interested you can read more on the History of Judaism in Austria here:
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/graz