Max and Mathilde Maier family papers
Loading
Overview
- Description
- The Max and Mathilde Maier family papers measure 1.5 linear feet, date from 1866‐1998, and include biographical materials, correspondence, photographs, printed materials, and writings documenting Max Maier’s World War I military service and the couple’s education, marriage, and emigration to Rolândia, Brazil. The papers also include a copy of an autobiography by Hans Maier and a copy of Gertrud Mainzer’s description of her time in Bergen‐Belsen.
Biographical materials include records documenting the lives of Max and Mathilde Maier as well as Cäcilie, Hans, Heinrich, Hermann, and Margarete Maier, Holocaust survivor Gertrud Mainzer, and family friend Herman E. Simon. Records include birth certificates, student records, military papers, Stammbücher, passports, immunization records, emigration and guardianship papers, immigration and
naturalization records, death notices, and funeral speeches. Additional records include certificates documenting Max Maier’s military decoration for bravery and Cäcilie Maier’s award of the War Merit Cross for Help, biographies of Hans Maier, Gertrud Mainzer’s description of her time in hiding in Amsterdam and internment at Westerbork and Bergen‐Belsen, and a booklet documenting a memorial
tribute to Hermann E. Simon.
Correspondence files include some of Max and Mathilde Maier’s correspondence in Germany and in Brazil and a copy of Hans Maier’s final letter to his children. German correspondence includes letters Mathilde wrote to a friend named Hedwig during high school, a letter to Max from his mother, letters from Max to Mathilde, and letters to Max and Mathilde from friends. These letters describe life in Germany and Max and Mathilde’s emigration plans. Brazilian letters include correspondence with the Maiers, Hermann E. Simon, and Margaret West about the Maiers’ purchase of land in Brazil, Max’s membership in the Frankfurt Bar Association, Hans Maier, Felix Rothschild, Mathilde’s writings, and the care of Max and Mathilde’s parents’ gravestones. Hans Maier’s final letter to his children includes his
autobiography.
Photographic materials include a small photograph album containing pictures of Frankfurt am Main and loose photographs depicting Max and Mathilde Maier as well as Henry and Margarete Maier, Hanna Maier Barrows, Peter and Ruth Baer, the Maiers’ homes in Frankfurt and Brazil, Max Maier’s military service in World War I, and two watercolor paintings.
Printed materials include a 1930s brochure describing the Brazilian lands of the Companhia de Terras Norte do Parana, a 1977 lecture by George L. Mosse, a photocopy of an advertisement for Mathilde Maier’s Die Geschischten des Wunderrabbi von Michelstadt, photocopies of pages from a history of Frankfurt Jews, a photocopy of pamphlet from the Jüdisches Museum in Frankfurt, and newspaper clippings about Max and Mathilde Maier and German immigration to Rolândia.
Writings include Mathilde Maier’s dissertation, Max Maier’s essays about German immigration to Brazil, and Margaret West’s article about child welfare workers in the Third Reich. - Date
-
inclusive:
1866-1998
- Collection Creator
- Mathilde Maier
- Biography
-
Max Maier (1891‐1976) was a lawyer born in Frankfurt to businessman Hermann Heinrich Maier and Cäcilie Minna Scheyer. During World War I he served as a lieutenant in the German army, and in 1920 he married Mathilde (Titti) Wormser (1896‐1997), who was born in Dinslaken to Leopold Wormser and Bertha Kahn. Mathilde had earned a PhD in Chemistry. Max’s brother Hans Maier (1889‐1937) was a lawyer and prominent figure in social reform and welfare in Weimar Germany. He married Anna Margarete Grätz in 1914, and the couple had three children: Hanna (1915‐2003), Heinrich (Henry, 1918‐2005), and Margarete (1921‐1997). When Hans Maier committed suicide a few months after his wife’s death in 1937, Max Maier became their children’s legal guardian. In November 1938, Max and Mathilde Maier emigrated with Margarete Maier to Rolândia, Brazil where they had purchased some land in 1936, became farmers, and obtained Brazilian citizenship in 1951 and 1953.
Physical Details
- Language
- German Portuguese English
- Genre/Form
- Photographs. Personal narratives.
- Extent
-
2 boxes
5 oversize folders
- System of Arrangement
- The Max and Mathilde Maier family papers are arranged as five series: Series I. Biographical materials, 1866-1991, Series II. Correspondence, 1910-1997, Series III. Photographic materials, approximately 1903-1997, Series IV. Printed materials, 1930s-1998, and Series V. Writings, 1921-1993.
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- There are no known restrictions on access to this material.
- Conditions on Use
- The donor, source institution, or a third party has asserted copyright over some or all of these material(s). The Museum does not own the copyright for the material and does not have authority to authorize use. For permission, please contact the rights holder(s).
Keywords & Subjects
- Topical Term
- Jews--Germany--History--1933-1945. Jewish refugees--Brazil--Rolândia. Jews, German--Brazil--Rolândia. World War, 1914-1918. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)
- Geographic Name
- Germany--History--1933-1945. Frankfurt am Main (Germany) Rolândia (Brazil) Brazil--Emigration and immigration.
- Corporate Name
- Bergen-Belsen (Concentration camp)
Administrative Notes
- Holder of Originals
-
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- Margaret West, great-niece of Max and Mathilde Maier, donated the Max and Mathilde Maier family papers to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum on March 30, 1998.
- Funding Note
- The cataloging of this collection has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
- Record last modified:
- 2023-02-24 13:56:16
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn501922
Additional Resources
Download & Licensing
- In Copyright
- Terms of Use
- This record is digitized but cannot be downloaded online.
In-Person Research
- Available for Research
- Plan a Research Visit
-
Request in Shapell Center Reading Room
Bowie, MD
