Page 147 - Studia Universitatis Hereditati, vol 13(1) (2025)

nasprotovanje Vidava pripisujejo grenki osebni doctorate under him in 1923, a quarter of a cen-
izkušnji. tury later, thus greatly hindering his research ca-
Čeprav je bil Vidav med vojno civilist, je reer. According to some of my professors, the rea-
imel hude izkušnje. Po vrnitvi iz Rima je bil v son for this had something to do with Plemelj’s
Ljubljani aretiran in je mesec dni preživel v kon- daughter. The situation was even worse with Ri-
centracijskem taborišču Gonars, kjer se je spop- hard Zupančič.
rijateljil s štiri leta mlajšim študentom matema- Plemelj’s attitude towards Zupančič gradu-
tike, prof. Nikom Prijateljem. Takrat so Nemci ally cooled between the two wars, and after the
njegovega očeta pregnali v ustaško Hrvaško in se Second World War, it had become hostile. It is
je za njim izgubila vsaka sled. Ubili so oba bra- unclear how much of this was due to person-
ta: en brat je padel kot talec novembra 1941, dru- al grudges and how much to political disagree-
gi pa je umrl v zloglasnem taborišču Auschwitz ments. When, after the war, four members were
leta 1942, medtem ko je mama preživela vojno v expelled from the Slovenian Academy of Scienc- 147
drugem koncentracijskem taborišču. Ko se je 29. es and Arts due to political pressure from the rev-
januarja 1944 na Plečnikovo stavbo NUK-a za- olutionary authorities, Plemelj forgot that it was
radi odpovedi motorja zrušilo italijansko poštno Zupančič who had protected him from going to
letalo v nemški službi, je bil Vidav na prisilnem the front during the First World War. Unfortu-
delu v pritličju stavbe. V enem od redkih oseb- nately, after 1996, only Zupančič remained ex-
nih pogovorih je nekoč nepričakovano spregovo- cluded. Vidav, who worked closely with Plemelj,
ril o tem dogodku. Zaupal mi je, da je bil prepri- adopted his mentor’s attitude towards Rihard
čan, da so takrat NUK bombardirali, vendar je Zupančič. During the debate on the rehabili-
stavbo zapustil nepoškodovan. To je kasneje po- tation of Rihard Zupančič at SAZU, proposed
trdil tudi v svojem intervjuju za Obzornik za ma- in 2001 by the Slovenian Society of Mathema-
tematiko in fiziko. ticians, Physicists, and Astronomers, Ivan Vidav
V tej luči se lahko držo Vidava ob posku- strongly opposed it, citing Plemelj’s arguments.
su rehabilitacije Riharda Zupančiča razume kot Some attribute Vidav’s opposition to a bitter per-
sporočilo, da z nacizmom ne more biti sprave. S sonal experience.
tem se je, pod vplivom nekaterih mlajših kolegov Although Vidav was a civilian during the Pisma Georga Fabra Josipu Plemlju • Letters from Georg Faber to Josip Plemelj
(Bernik 2012), zgolj s svojo avtoriteto zopersta- war, he had some terrible experiences. After re-
vil z močnimi argumenti podprti želji sloven- turning from Rome, he was arrested in Ljublja-
skih matematikov, zbranih v DMFA, da se tudi na. He spent a month in the Gonars concentra-
nič krivemu Zupančiču vsaj na simbolni ravni tion camp, where he befriended a mathematics
popravi krivica, ki mu je bila storjena ob koncu student four years his junior, Niko Prijatelj. At
vojne. Anton Suhadolc (2011) je četrto poglavje that time, the Germans deported his father to
svoje knjige o Zupančiču posvetil poskusu njego- Ustaše Croatia, and all traces of him were lost.
ve rehabilitacije. Tako pa ostajata z madežem na Both of his brothers were killed: one brother was
zgodovini slovenske matematike povezani ime- taken hostage in November 1941, and the other
ni Vidava in Plemlja. Pogled na nekatere strani died in the notorious Auschwitz camp in 1942,
iz obsežne knjige spominov Kronika mojega živ- while his mother survived the war in anoth-
ljenja tedanjega predsednika SAZU akademika er concentration camp. When an Italian postal
Franceta Bernika (2012) razkrije, kako so mu ne- plane in German service crashed into Plečnik’s
kateri člani SAZU »minirali« skrbno priprav- NUK building on 29 January 1944 due to en-
ljeni predlog za Zupančičevo rehabilitacijo. Ob gine failure, Vidav was working on the ground
tem ne gre spregledati dejstva, da Osetova knji- floor of the building at the time. In one of our
ga, ki je izšla pri SAZU, tam še do danes ni doži- rare personal conversations, he unexpected-
vela javne predstavitve. ly spoke about this event. He confided in me