Antisemitic Arithmetic: The ‘Jewish Question’ and Higher Education in Central Europe, 1880-1945

In 1920, the Hungarian parliament introduced a Jewish quota for university admissions, making Hungary the first country in Europe to pass antisemitic legislation following World War I. The recent book, Quotas: The ‘Jewish Question’ and Higher Education in Central Europe, 1880-1945, edited by Michael L. Miller and Judith Szapor, explores the ideologies and practices of quota regimes and the ways quotas have been justified, implemented, challenged, and remembered from the late nineteenth century until the middle of the twentieth century. This talk will examine the origins of quotas, the moral, legal, and political arguments developed by their supporters and opponents, and the social and personal impact of these attempts to limit access to higher education.