Lemke, Meinhardt, 1904-1962

Mainhardt Lemke was born in 1904 in Fordon (today in Poland). He studied in Breslau (now Wrocŧaw, Poland) and Königsberg (now Kaliningrad, Russia) and worked for a short time as a journalist writing poems and short stories. The well-known novelist Ernst Wiechert supported his lyrical talent. Until 1933 Lemke worked in the University of Breslau's library where he started studying Jewish history and Judaic studies. In 1939 Meinhardt Lemke was arrested and brought to Dachau concentration camp. He immigrated to Bolivia in 1939 where he worked as a religious teacher and as a preacher in the Jewish community. In 1946 he came to New York, where he died in 1962. He also wrote under the nom de plume Manfred Kulm.

From the guide to the Meinhardt Lemke Collection, 1905-1962, bulk 1929-1960, (Leo Baeck Institute)