Anson Rabinbach, one of the world’s leading experts of the Nazi era, died on Feb. 2 in Rome, where he was giving a lecture. He was 79.

Professor Rabinbach was among several young scholars in the early 1970s who attempted to bridge the gap between social history and intellectual history, especially in the realm of 20th-century Europe. Frustrated by a lack of places in which to express his views, in 1973, professor Rabinbach and three other academics — David Bathrick, Andreas Huyssen and Jack Zipes — founded the journal New German Critique, which became a leading outlet for scholars of 20th-century German culture.

Although he taught at Princeton, held top fellowship, and lectured around the world, Professor Rabinbach always considered New German Critique his intellectual home, a place where he could express his opinions about the left and the right.