Markreich, Max, 1881-1962

Max Markreich was born in Weener (East Frisia) on October 11, 1881. He worked with a wholesaler in Bremen and became increasingly interested in Jewish affairs. After serving in the army during the First World War, he returned to Bremen. In November 1912 Max Markreich married Johanna Behrens. They had three children: Ludwig, Mary, and Irene. In 1927, Markreich was elected Chairman of the Jewish Community and continued in that post through 1938. In November 1938 he was arrested along with many other members of the Jewish Community. Upon his release, Markreich determined to leave Germany.

In January 1939, Max Markreich left Germany with his wife and daughters and emigrated to Trinidad in the British West Indies, a country that was still relatively easy to receive a visa for. After two years there, complete with a sojourn in an internment camp as enemy aliens, the family obtained affidavits and visas and came to the United States separately. In the United States Max Markreich was active in refugee affairs, helping found the congregation Shaare Zedek in Astoria, Queens and in 1945-1946 the Hilfswerk für Juden in Bremen which gathered money and relief aid for Jewish Displaced Persons and concentration camp survivors living in Bremen after the Second World War.

In 1943 Max Markreich began to hear of the fate of his family members left behind in Bremen. Along with many other people from Bremen, they were sent to an unidentified camp near Minsk and the Theresienstadt concencentration camp. In all, 915 Jews from Bremen were killed by the Nazis. Max Markreich's mother-in-law died in Theresienstadt, while his sister, her husband, and their son perished in the camp near Minsk.

During the 1950s, Markreich devoted himself to historical and genealogical research of Jews in Bremen and East Frisia, a topic he had long been interested in, and produced two book-length manuscripts on the history of the Jews of Bremen and East Frisia respectively, as well as numerous smaller essays. Markreich died in San Francisco on November 27, 1962.

From the guide to the Max Markreich Collection, 1749, 1912-1962, 1999, (Leo Baeck Institute)