Keeping History Alive

(PHOTO: OWEN EGAN)

Two weeks after his ninth birthday, World War II broke out. Bombers and fighter planes roared in the sky above. “I was just a young boy in Stuttgart, Germany,” says Peter C. Hoffmann. “But I remember the feeling of both apprehension and excitement.”

Today, Hoffmann is the William Kingsford Professor of History at McGill and a well-known authority on the German resistance to the Third Reich. He served as an advisor on Valkyrie, the Tom Cruise film depicting the 1944 plot by Claus von Stauffenberg to assassinate Hitler. Hoffmann is the author of Stauffenberg: A Family History , which has gone through two printings in the past four months.

While he is happy Hollywood has taken an interest in this often neglected aspect of German history, Hoffmann credits the original players for forcing him to take a closer look. Hoffmann’s own father was part of the German resistance, and it was his father’s friends who asked the young doctoral student to write a comprehensive history of the movement.

“I said that sounded like a tall order for me and maybe I could write an article or two,” says Hoffmann, who spent the next seven years writing a massive account of the German resistance.

It is with that same zeal and dedication that Hoffmann has approached another challenge: establishing a permanent Chair in German History at McGill, where he has taught since 1970. Hoffmann spent five years approaching many dozens of foundations and private donors – and he has several binders of rejection letters to prove it.

“I couldn’t think of anything else – even in my dreams – except how to formulate my next letter and how to approach the next potential donor,” says Hoffmann, who made a significant gift from his own pension.

Many foundations and private donors have provided support, including the German-based Bosch Foundation, whose own founder had supported the anti-Nazi resistance. When Hoffmann attained the target funds, the University named the Chair the Peter C. Hoffmann Chair in German History.

“We are enormously impressed by Professor Hoffmann’s energy, determination and acumen in generating donations to establish this Chair,” says Department of History Chair Catherine LeGrand. “The lasting legacy of the Hoffmann Chair will be to ensure the place of German history in our department for years to come.”

Principal and Vice-Chancellor Heather Munroe-Blum says: “In his dedication to his profession and to this University, Professor Hoffmann has been an inspiration to us all. We are deeply grateful for his commitment to research and scholarship.”

Carly Grossman, BA’02