Dorothea Oschinsky: Doctoral Thesis and Papers

Dr. Dorothea Oschinsky (1910–1995) was born in Silesia. She completed her doctoral studies at Breslau University in Germany in the 1930s, but her Jewish descent prevented her from formally receiving her degree. She managed to bring her parents to England and to begin a second PhD in medieval English economic history at the London School of Economics. After the outbreak of World War II, she was relocated to Cambridge, After graduating, she had a distinguished career as a medieval historian and taught archival science and palaeography at Liverpool University. She returned to Cambridge after her retirement, where she continued her research at the University Library. She bequeathed her papers to Cambridge University Library. In addition to her research papers, materials include “copies of letters to her sister Ilse (1933 and 1960); a certificate of passing the examination of her doctoral thesis ‘magna cum laude’ (1936); a copy of her birth certificate (1938); a paper (in German) on the future of Jews in Germany (1939); and a letter to her uncle (c. 1939).”