Otto Toeplitz: algebraist of the infinite matrices. A painful love for Germany (Q457066)

The author emphasizes the destiny of Otto Toeplitz is exemplary for Jewish mathematicians during the Third Reich. In 1932, Heinrich Behnke and Otto Toeplitz founded the ``Mathematische Semesterberichte'', a milestone within mathematics and especially mathematics education. Born on August 1, 1881 in Breslau, Toeplitz studied mathematics in his home town. His thesis ``Über Systeme von Formen, deren Funktionaldeterminante identisch verschwindet'' was supervised by Jakob Rosanes. In 1906, Toeplitz moved to Göttingen, where he collaborated with David Hilbert and Felix Klein. In 1913, Toeplitz became extraordinary professor in Kiel, where Helmut Hasse, Julius Stenzel and Heinrich Scholz were his colleagues. Unfortunately, Karl Jaspers' vocation for Kiel was not successful, but Jaspers dedicated his book ``Die Idee der Universität'' to Toeplitz. In Kiel, Toeplitz got engaged in the education of mathematics teachers, he organized a ``mathematisch-didaktisches Kolloquium''. In 1928, Toeplitz became ordinary professor in Bonn; in 1930, Toeplitz' and Rademacher's book ``Von Zahlen und Figuren'' was published. The author presents many documents concerning Otto Toeplitz during the Third Reich. In Bonn, Toeplitz initiated a historical seminar and took care that the library also included historical works. His colleagues who shared his historical interests were Erich Bessel-Hagen and later Oskar Becker. In 1938, Toeplitz visited Palestine for the first time. In February 1939, Erna and Otto Toeplitz left Germany and emigrated to Jerusalem. Among others, Toeplitz is the author of ``Der Algebraiker Hilbert''. Further, Toeplitz is the originator of the ``genetische Methode''; among his important contributions were the theorem of Hellinger-Toeplitz, the ``Permanentsatz'' (principle of permanence), and the theorem of Toeplitz-Hausdorff.