The Last Generation of the Wissenschaft des Judentums: The Case of Ern(e)st Mainz (1905–1984) and Marie Miriam Mainz née Leibowitz (1904–1983)

Abstract

The numerous Jewish scholars who were born in Germany in the first two decades of the twentieth century, received a thorough Jewish education, and then turned to Islamic/Oriental studies represent the last generation of the Wissenschaft des Judentums. The careers and often the lives of many of them came to an abrupt end with the rise of the Nazis and World War II, though some managed, through painstaking efforts, to continue their academic pursuits despite the hardships of flight, persecution, and displacement. Several of these scholars came from Hamburg, one of the best places to study Islamica and Semitica in the 1920s and 1930s. Prominent examples include Ilse Lichtenstädter (1901–1991), Fritz Paul Bargebuhr (1904–1978), Ernst Mainz (1905–1984), and Hedwig Klein (1911–1942). This article focuses on Ernst Mainz, the least known of these four, and his wife, Marie Miriam Leibowitz (1904–1983). Based on archival material from various institutions in France, Germany, Israel, and the United States, the article reconstructs the biographies and scholarly careers of Ernst (later Ernest) and Marie Mainz. It also provides annotated editions of relevant documentary sources and a comprehensive list of Ernst and Marie’s publications.