Migration and Transfer of Knowledge: Refugees from Nazism and Turkish Legal Reform

Starting in 1933, Turkey reformed its judicial system as well as its system of higher education using refugees fleeing the Nazis and given a safe haven through formal government invitations. For these souls America was out of reach because of restrictive immigration laws and wide spread anti-Semitic hiring bias at its universities. Among the invited were several German legal scholars and economists who played a large role to further westernize the new Turkish Republic's legal code and tax legislation. This paper will discuss that epoch, its legacy, and perceptions thereof in Turkey today