Founded in Germany, in 1819, the Wissenschaft der Juden (Society for Jewish Culture and Science) sought to establish a construct of the Jewish people as a people – in a secular cultural sense; it aimed to acculturate Jews to their cultural milieu while maintaining a link to Judaism. These goals were advanced through an emphasis on education, scholarship and the development of Jewish Studies as a serious field of scholarly inquiry. Established in 1919, the Society of Jewish Science in the Netherlands was the first organization in the Netherlands devoted to the Wissencchaft’s mission – though it advanced the mission in a Dutch context instead of a German one. During its early years the Society held events, participated in the establishment of the Jewish Historical Museum, held symposiums, and provided access to a library. Yet, these activities were cut tragically short with the rise of the Nazis. Fifty members of the Society were killed during the war, and the organization’s archive and collections were destroyed. In 1950 the Society was re-established, it remains active to this day as a center for Jewish scholarship in the Netherlands.
This book stamp is from a book looted by the Nazis and sorted by Colonel Seymour Pomrenze, one of “the Monuments Men,” at the Offenbach Archival Depot.
There are two scrapbooks of archival markings from the books sorted at the Offenbach Depot in the Seymour Pomrenze Collection held by the American Jewish Historical Society (Call number P-933) There is a finding aid for the collection here The digitized scrapbooks are available here and here.


For more information on this project check the Center’s blog: 16thstreet.tumblr.com/tagged/Offenbach-Depot


Dr. Mitch Fraas, Acting Director of the Digital Humanities Forum at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries' Special Collections Center is working on a similar project for the German book stamps based on NARA microfilm of the volumes the American Jewish Historical Society currently holds. See viewshare.org/views/mfraas/offenbach-bookplates/


The Center for Jewish History would like to acknowledge the following: The American Jewish Historical Society, who graciously allowed the use of their archival materials and digital content; Mitch Fraas, Acting Director of the Digital Humanities Forum at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries' Special Collections Center, for his data and technical assistance in this project; David Rosenberg, Reference Services Research Coordinator, and Melanie Meyers, Senior Reference Services Librarian for Special Collections, for managing and creating the digital map; and Reference Services Intern Ilya Slavutskiy for his work on translating and mapping.