What was the role of German diplomacy within academic exchange between Brazil and Germany from 1933 to 1942, and what impact did this exchange have on the institutionalization of higher education in Brazil? According to the historian Andr\u00e9 Felipe C\u00e2ndido da Silva, German diplomacy sought to capitalize, in all senses of the word, on the circulation of these intellectuals. With goals of an ultimately political nature, including the dissemination of cultural propaganda, German diplomacy brought scientific and intellectual exchange in line with the political and ideological concerns of the Nazi regime. \u201cThere are many possible parallels between the 1930s and what we are experiencing today, with the far right advancing worldwide and liberal democracy falling into disrepute,\u201d says Dr. da Silva.<\/p>\n
The historian explains that a number of teaching and research institutions were founded or restructured during this period, and that Brazilian professors, researchers, and students \u2013 especially in the area of medicine \u2013 consequently traveled to Germany for further training. \u201cAt the same time, German institutions were considered models for their Brazilian counterparts,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n The book is the product of a meeting held in Uppsala, Sweden, in 2017, entitled \u201cA Treason of the Intellectuals? International Scientific and Intellectual Relations with Germany during the Nazi Era.\u201d The event gathered researchers interested in relations between scientists and intellectuals in Nazi Germany and their colleagues abroad.<\/p>\n \u201cThe idea was to examine these relations as expressions of broader movements that transcended the borders and experiences of Hitler\u2019s Germany, while also examining the links between academic and intellectual exchange and Nazi cultural propaganda,\u201d explains Dr. da Silva.<\/p>\n For many of the academics who went to Germany during this period, democracy was not exactly a value to consider. \u201cThis reflects the moment, which was characterized by a crisis of liberalism and the rise of Fascism, but we can also see it as signaling how little sway democratic thought then held in the Brazilian republic,\u201d says the historian, who believes this weakness has come to the fore on repeated occasions in the political history of the Brazilian republic. \u201cI think what we\u2019re experiencing today should also be tied to this medium-term trend,\u201d he states.<\/p>\n In the view of many of these researchers and students, professional training superseded political factors \u2013 in other words, these intellectuals did not necessarily travel to Germany because they supported Nazi ideals. Yet as part of the academic influx to that country, they helped Hitler\u2019s regime earn international legitimacy. According to Dr. da Silva, this aspect has been explored in more recent literature that investigates Nazi-Fascism from a transnational and global perspective, that is, as a phenomenon that gained strength beyond the borders of countries directly impacted, through the movement of ideas, experiences, publications, and people.<\/p>\n Read further:<\/strong><\/p>\n Diplomats in the Laboratory<\/a>, by Juliana Sayuri, Revista Pesquisa Fapesp (issue 231, May 2015).<\/p>\n Read articles of the\u00a0historian Andr\u00e9 Felipe C\u00e2ndido da Silva already published in HCSM:<\/strong><\/p>\n Silva, Andr\u00e9 Felipe C\u00e2ndido da.\u00a0Um brasileiro no Reich de Guilherme II:\u00a0Henrique da Rocha Lima, as rela\u00e7\u00f5es Brasil-Alemanha e o Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, 1901-1909<\/a>.\u00a0Hist. cienc. saude-Manguinhos<\/i>, Mar 2013, vol.20, no.1, p.93-117. ISSN 0104-5970<\/p>\n Silva, Andr\u00e9 Felipe C\u00e2ndido da.\u00a0A trajet\u00f3ria de Henrique da Rocha Lima e as rela\u00e7\u00f5es teuto-brasileiras (1901-1956)<\/a>.\u00a0Hist. cienc. saude-Manguinhos<\/i>, Jun 2010, vol.17, no.2, p.495-509. ISSN 0104-5970<\/p>\n Silva, Andr\u00e9 Felipe C\u00e2ndido da.\u00a0Yes, n\u00f3s temos Pasteur<\/a>.\u00a0Hist. cienc. saude-Manguinhos<\/i>, Set 2009, vol.16, no.3, p.827-832. ISSN 0104-5970<\/p>\n Benchimol, Jaime Larry and Silva, Andr\u00e9 Felipe C\u00e2ndido da.\u00a0Ferrovias, doen\u00e7as e medicina tropical no Brasil da Primeira Rep\u00fablica<\/a>.\u00a0Hist. cienc. saude-Manguinhos<\/i>, Set 2008, vol.15, no.3, p.719-762. ISSN 0104-5970<\/p>\n![\"Capa](\"http:\/\/coc.fiocruz.br\/images\/noticias\/2019\/2019.09\/capa-_AndreFelipeCandido_-_coop_Brasil-Alemanha.jpg\")
\u201cIt is important to remember that Brazil was then governed by Get\u00falio Vargas, who rose to power through the movement called the \u2018revolution of 1930\u2019. He got himself elected in 1934, but in 1937 he instituted an authoritarian regime that lasted until 1945, when World War II ended,\u201d says Dr. da Silva, a professor and researcher at the Casa de Oswaldo Cruz who contributed a chapter to\u00a0Intellectual Collaboration with the Third Reich: Treason or Reason?\u00a0<\/em>edited by Swedish colleagues Maria Bj\u00f6rkman, Patrik Lundell, and Sven Widmalm and published by Routledge.<\/p>\n