The first generation of women physicists included Hedwig Kohn, Lise Meitner, Hertha Sponer and Hildegard Stücklen. But their progress was nearly erased with the rise of Nazi Germany, according to Olivia Campbell’s book “Sisters in Science: How Four Women Physicists Escaped Nazi Germany and Made Scientific History.”
When Adolf Hitler took power in 1933, new policies barred women from university certification and excluded Jewish people from civil service jobs.
Campbell said historical accounts often center on male scientists who fled Germany. But while researching, she found a database at Northeastern University that revealed a lesser-known story of women academics trying to escape.
“I’m digging around all the names in there, and I find the three ladies, and find they’re all physicists,” Campbell said.
Those women developed close personal and professional ties as they navigated increasing restrictions.
Campbell said women often received less support from refugee aid organizations.
“Women invariably took a backseat to men," she said. "If they were to make it out, they’d have to help each other."
Campbell describes Kohn as a central figure in the group’s story. Kohn became one of the first women in Germany to earn a doctorate in physics, and her escape was among the most complex.
Campbell said Kohn’s journey took three months and spanned Russia and Japan before she reached the United States.
Even women who were not Jewish faced growing barriers. Sponer and Stücklen saw their careers destabilized under the Nazi regime.
Sponer remained employed in Germany as long as her mentor, physicist James Franck, was able to protect her. After he was dismissed, her position became untenable.
Sponer later secured a job at Duke University, where she helped other displaced scientists.
Thriving, not just surviving
In the United States, the women continued their research and supported one another professionally.
Sponer invited Kohn and Stücklen to work in her spectroscopy lab at Duke each summer so they could continue publishing.
Campbell said Sponer was focused on more than survival.
“She was very interested in seeing these women sort of thrive, not just survive,” Campbell said.
Meitner, one of the most prominent scientists in the group, played a key role in the discovery of nuclear fission but was not included in the Nobel Prize awarded to her collaborator Otto Hahn.
She also declined to participate in the Manhattan Project.
“I will not be a party to anything that will cause this type of pain and destruction,” Meitner said, reflecting on her experience as a nurse during World War I.
Campbell said the women’s lives demonstrate resilience in the face of persecution. They lived long lives and continued their work, shaping the field of physics and mentoring future generations.
“I’d like to think that the overarching idea is that hate doesn’t win, that hope can prevail,” she said.
Guest
- Olivia Campbell, author
