Felix Hirsch

Felix Eduard Hirsch (Berlin, 7 February 1902 – 12 December 1982 Newtown, Pennsylvania ) was a journalist for the Berliner Tageblatt and latterly, historian, librarian and professor at Bard College in New York.

Biography Early life Hirsch studied history at the University of Heidelberg where he graduated under German historian and political journalist, Hermann Oncken in 1924. After university, Hirsch moved to Berlin to pursue a career in journalism at the Berliner Tagelblatt and later became the editor at the Achtuhr Abendblatt. Following the rise of Nazism, Hirsch went into exile in America, and completed a librarian degree at Columbia University in 1936. He subsequently moved to Bard College, where he would teach history and expand the library.

Kurt Soelling controversy On 18 May 1932, Judge Kurt Soelling (born Seligsohn), the chairman of the Berlin District Court, brought a libel action against Hirsch for an article he wrote in the Achtuhr Abendblatt that revealed Soelling's Jewish identity. Soelling was born into a Jewish family, but baptised a Protestant in later life. He had been a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany but in 1931, declared himself a monarchist and became a prominent supporter of the burgeoning Nazi Party and Adolf Hitler. Hirsch's article not only revealed the judge's Jewish identity, but alleged that he had converted to Protestantism to further his judicial career. Hirsch denounced Soelling as a "dishonest politician".

Marriage and children Hirsch married long-term friend, academic Elisabeth Feist in 1938, and they had two children together. Towards the end of his life, he suffered from Parkinson's disease. He died in 1982, at a retirement home in Newtown, Pennsylvania.