Talk:Oskar R. Lange

Timing of Career

The article says he went to England in '34 and left in '37. Later it speaks of "his American interlude of 1933–45". This seems contradictory. I think this probably should read "his American interlude of 1937–45", if as the article states he really started to come into prominence with the publication of "On the Economic Theory of Socialism" published in 1936 (and reprinted in 1938: https://ia801606.us.archive.org/1/items/in.ernet.dli.2015.263328/2015.263328.On-The.pdf).

--Michael Hurwicz (talk) 06:53, 20 December 2017 (UTC)

Replying to myself here! I have since read in a number of places that Lange started lecturing at the U of Michigan in 1936. (https://www.hetwebsite.net/het/profiles/lange.htm). So that would make the interlude 1936-1945. Michael Hurwicz (talk) 17:59, 29 January 2024 (UTC)

Gazeta Polska

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gazeta_Polska This is totally unreliable source. Any accusations must be substantiated.

Value of Lange's work

Lange proved that only market socialist economy can survive. The soviet, hardline etatist model was doomed, according to Lange.

lech.keller@gmail.com

Lange's covername with the KGB was FRIEND.

The article doesn't prove he was a Soviet spy. He might have been an useful idiot.

What is the value of his works, when socialism collapsed? Xx236 13:57, 15 September 2006 (UTC)

Actually, the article doesn't even say that he was a Soviet spy, straw man much? There are accusations that Lange was a Soviet spy. Gazeta Polska published such an accusation as part of a larger article on Soviet responsibility for the Katyn massacre. I got an english translation in e-mail.

---translation---

Needs rewording

Whole passages are lifted verbatim from http://homepage.newschool.edu/het//profiles/lange.htm —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.241.218.107 (talk) 11:45, 20 November 2009 (UTC)

Jew or Protestant

As a by-product of my work on an article about the history of the Germans in in the Region of Lodz in the German Wikipedia I came accross Oskar Lange and wanted to add some info to the German article about him. Looking for more information about him in the English version I saw that he is said to be a Jew here. However, in my source it clearly sais that he was a protestant, which means that he most likely was brought up as a German. I think the form of his name and the names of his parents would suggest that my source is correct - but this is not a proof, and it is still possible that they were Jews. Can anybody here give more information? --UtaHae (talk) 13:30, 20 May 2011 (UTC)

I have found another possible mistake in this article: Here it sais that Oskar Lange's father was a textile merchant while my source sais he was a textile manufacturer. My source is Beate Kosmala: Juden und Deutsche im polnischen Haus. Tomaszów Mazowiecki 1914–1939. Berlin 2001, S. 227. --91.37.73.225 (talk) 17:55, 22 May 2011 (UTC) This was also written by me, I had forgotten to log in. --UtaHae (talk) 16:50, 26 May 2011 (UTC)

You can see a snippet of that source here [1]. Uta, what's your source that calls him Protestant? I have seen a couple sources refer to him as Jewish, though usually it's not mentioned, probably because his family was very much "assimilated" and he himself was probably an atheist (or not very religious).Volunteer Marek (talk) 20:22, 22 May 2011 (UTC)

The title of the book I mentioned above as source is, translated into English, "Jews and Germans im the Polish house. Tomaszów Mazowiecki 1914–1939." As Kosmala explicitly writes about the different ethnic groups in Tomaszów I assume that she must have known what religion Oskar Lange was. As far as I can judge it, she seems to have an impressive knowledge of the place and the people who lived there. However, nobody is perfect, so it is possible that it is a mistake. --UtaHae (talk) 16:48, 26 May 2011 (UTC)

Ah, I see, I didn't realize that the second comment was from you as well. Can you provide the exact quote? It's quite possible that Lange's family converted from Judaism to Protestanism - while this wasn't as common as conversion from Judaism to Catholicism it wasn't unheard of. At the same time it wouldn't necessarily imply that this meant he was brought up as German either. At least at this point that second part would be WP:OR. But it might be ok to add that the Kosmala source states he was born into a Protestant family (or whatever the exact quote says).17:05, 26 May 2011 (UTC)

The quote in German: [...] ... sometimes asking questions helps! While typing out the quote I found a footnote in the book which clearly states that he was German (this quote is in English in the orinial): A quote from the 'Who's Who in Central and East-Europe 1933/34' (Zürich 1935): Lange, Oscar, Richard, Dr. priv. lect. in Statistics, Univ. of Cracow, *Tomaszów near Lodz July 27, 1904; s. of Arthur Julius, manuf., and Sophie Albertine Rosner; descend. of a German family immigrated to Poland at the beginning of the XIX cent. which had plaid an active part in the creaton of Pol. textile ind.; Educ.: fac. of law Univ. of Cracow, D.D.L; since 1928; mar. Dr. Irene Oderfeld, 1932. I will now have to check what of this should be added to the German article. --UtaHae (talk) 21:10, 26 May 2011 (UTC)