Plaque honors students who helped 16 flee Nazis to study at Harvard
A small group gathered Tuesday in Harvard Yard to mark the reinstallation of a bronze plaque honoring Harvard students from the 1930s who helped 16 refugees from Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia to flee Nazi persecution, starting a scholarship fund so they could study at the University. An earlier plaque disappeared several years ago. Led by President Larry Bacow, the group — which included Harvard administrators, faculty, a student, and a Cambridge resident — converged at the site between Boylston and Grays halls beneath a commemorative linden tree that had been given to the University by the scholarship beneficiaries, along with the original plaque. “It’s an important story to be told, and it’s especially relevant now,” said Bacow, whose parents were refugees from Europe. “We should be reminded of this event and be willing to raise a voice — like those who came before us did — for those who cannot raise a...