Collegial relations between Harvard University and the Nazis in the 1930s were a ‘‘shameful’’ episode that helped give a favorable picture of the regime in the United States, according to a report released on Sunday. ‘‘As the Nazi menace steadily increased. (President James Bryant) Conant’s administration at Harvard was complicit in increasing the prestige of Nazi regime by seeking and maintaining friendly and respectful relations with Nazi universities and officials,’’ the report said.The findings were presented by Stephen Norwood, Professor of History and Judaic Studies at the University of Oklahoma, from a paper presented at a Boston conference sponsored by the David Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies. ‘‘It is truly shameful that the administrative, alumni and student leaders of America’s most prominent university. remained indifferent to Germany’s perilous campaign against Jews and indeed on numerous occasions assisted the Nazis in their efforts to gain acceptance in the West,’’ the paper said.Norwood’s probe examined the period 1933 to 1937, when America’s awareness of Adolf Hitler’s persecution of Jews was growing, but the US government equivocated as war clouds gathered in Europe. According to Norwood, Hitler’s foreign press secretary, Ernst Hanfstaengl, was given a warm welcome at his 25th Harvard reunion in 1934. Hanfstaengl led the Nazi efforts to win over world opinion, and is reported to have introduced their trademark stiff-armed salute and ‘‘Sieg Heil’’ chant, basing both on Harvard football cheers, Norwood said.Harvard stated denying Conant had feted the German official, saying the university ‘‘did not support Nazis by holding its traditional reunion’’. —Reuters
