 The University of Poznań was closed by the German Occupation in 1939, and reopened 1941 as "Reichsuniversität Posen", a "Grenzlanduniversität" aligned with the German occupation forces' ideology.Its faculty included SS-Hauptsturmführer Reinhard Wittram and SS-Untersturmführer Ernst Petersen, who was a professor of the Department of Prehistory for one year, and anatomist Hermann Voss.It ceased operations in 1944.