Clarification Decision by the University of Potsdam on Statements Regarding King's College London in the Homolka Plagiarism Case (11 December 2025)

This document is an official administrative decision (Bescheid) issued by the University of Potsdam on 11 December 2025 in response to an application under the Brandenburg Act on Access to Files and Information (Akteneinsichts- und Informationszugangsgesetz, AIG). The decision must be read against the background of publicly known allegations of extensive plagiarism concerning the doctoral dissertation of Rabbi Professor Dr. Dr. Walter Homolka. It has been alleged, on the basis of detailed comparative analyses, that approximately one third of the dissertation consists of unacknowledged translation plagiarism from another scholarly work. These allegations have been the subject of sustained public, journalistic, and academic scrutiny since 2022. Professor Homolka has been employed by the University of Potsdam, where he played a central role in the institutional development of Jewish Theology. While the University of Potsdam is not the degree-granting institution for the doctorate in question, it is the employing institution and therefore bears responsibility for addressing allegations of scientific misconduct insofar as they concern its academic staff and the integrity of its governance procedures. The University of Potsdam has consistently stated that it is awaiting a report from King’s College London, the institution that awarded the doctoral degree, before concluding its handling of the matter. This reliance on an external institution has resulted in a prolonged delay in the overall resolution of the case, extending over several years, during which the University has repeatedly characterized the matter as ongoing. The present decision clarifies an apparent contradiction between a press statement by the University of Potsdam and assertions made in an earlier Widerspruchsbescheid dated 12 September 2025. In Widerspruchsbescheid the University stated that it had received a report that it is in the process of interpreting: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17715690. In the press statement it stated it did not receive such a report: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17724557. In this document it confirms that it had not received a final or closing report from King’s College London. Instead, it had received only a purely informational, preliminary communication regarding an “outcome,” which was transmitted on 11 August 2025. The decision further clarifies that references to an “Ergebnis” (result) in earlier administrative correspondence referred exclusively to this preliminary communication and not to a formal investigative report, contrary to what the wording in the Widerspruchsbescheid dated 12 September 2025 strongly suggested. The document is published for purposes of transparency, documentation of administrative practice, and scholarly analysis of academic integrity governance, institutional responsibility, and cross-institutional accountability in cases of alleged scientific misconduct involving public universities. Provenance Statement This document is an official administrative decision (Bescheid) issued by the University of Potsdam on 11 December 2025. It was obtained by the uploader through a formal request under the Brandenburg Act on Access to Files and Information (Akteneinsichts- und Informationszugangsgesetz, AIG) and subsequent administrative correspondence with the University of Potsdam. The document is published here in its original form, except for minimal redactions limited to personal contact details and handwritten signatures of administrative staff, where applicable, in accordance with data protection requirements. No substantive content, factual statements, or legal reasoning has been altered. The uploader has no institutional affiliation with the University of Potsdam in relation to this matter and publishes the document solely for purposes of documentation, transparency, and scholarly analysis of academic governance and integrity procedures.

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