Study of World War Two refugees in Oxford

'What was life like for wartime refugees living in Oxford?' is the question posed by University researchers. They are focusing in particular on a Jewish academic, archaeologist Paul Jacobsthal, who fled Nazi Germany with his wife during the Second World War. In Nazi Germany his views on Celtic art were regarded as subversive, and when life became too dangerous he sought refuge in Oxford taking up a post as a University professor. The project is being funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Reva and David Logan Foundation. Professor Jacobsthal was a senior academic at the University of Oxford until his death in 1957. He made his name as a world leading expert in Celtic art, publishing a ground-breaking book Early Celtic Art in 1944. He also left a stack of personal letters, which reveal his and his wife's experiences as refugees in Oxford.