Hans-Joachim Schoeps

Hans-Joachim Schoeps (January 30, 1909 Berlin - July 8, 1980 Erlangen) was a German-Jewish historian of religion and religious philosophy. He was professor of religions and religious history at the University of Erlangen.^[1] Prior to World War II, Schoeps was leader of the German Vanguard (Der deutsche Vortrupp), the German-Jewish followers of Hitler, also referred to as "Nazi Jews". Schoeps went into exile in Falun/Sweden in 1938, just before the persecutions began in earnest. There his two sons were born. Schoeps returned to Germany after the war and was made professor of religious history at the university of Erlangen in northern Bavaria, ten miles north of Nuremberg. He remained a monarchist and wanted to re-introduce monarchy in post-war Germany. His involvement in the Vortrupp and his personal engagement for the success of the Nazi movement did not become known at Erlangen while he was a professor there until 1970. He was firmly opposed to the liberal-socialist student movement after 1967, and published a book in 1972 in which he claimed that Germany was threatened by anarchy. Schoeps was a member of the Deutschland-Stiftung, in which former Nazis were active.

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