Editing Heidelberg University (section)

===Nazi Germany===
{{See also|University education in Nazi Germany}}
After the establishment of [[Nazi Germany]] in 1933, the university supported [[Adolf Hitler]] and the [[Nazi]]s like all other German universities at the time. It dismissed a large number of staff and students for political and racial reasons. Many dissident fellows had to emigrate and most Jewish and [[Communist]] professors who did not leave Germany were deported. At least two professors directly fell victim to Nazi terror.<ref>{{harvnb|Wolgast|1986|p=146}}</ref> On 17 May 1933, members of the university faculty and students took part in [[book burning]]s at ''Universitätsplatz'' ('University Square')<ref>{{harvnb|Cser|2007|p=278}}</ref> and Heidelberg eventually became infamous as a [[NSDAP]] university. The inscription above the main entrance of the New University was changed from "The Living Spirit" to "The German Spirit",<ref>{{harvnb|Cser|2007|p=256}}</ref> and many professors paid homage to the new motto. The university was involved in [[Nazi eugenics]]: forced sterilizations were carried out at the women's clinic and the psychiatric clinic, then directed by [[Carl Schneider]], was involved in [[Action T4]] [[Euthanasia]] program.<ref>{{harvnb|Remy|2002|pp=72–3, 107–10}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.medizinische-fakultaet-hd.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php?id=109869&L=en|title=History|work=Medizinische Fakultät Heidelberg|access-date=27 October 2010|archive-date=22 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170522052941/http://www.medizinische-fakultaet-hd.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php?id=109869&L=en|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The heads of the university helped in the deportation of Jewish men, women and children directly to the gas chambers.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}

After the end of World War II, the university underwent an extensive [[denazification]].{{citation needed|date=March 2025}}