Karl Brockelman "Recent Memories"

Brocklmann wrote these memoirs specifically for his son, who was cut off from news of him during World War II, to the point that he lost hope of ever meeting him again in his life, until finally the good news came that he was still alive, as he had fallen into the hands of the Russians. And from here lies the importance of these memoirs, as Brocklmann lived through an era filled with major challenges, great hopes, and unprecedented scientific achievements, and witnessed in it remarkable developments in the German Academy that had never been seen before. It was also an era of rapid, terrifying global events, which affected him and his family greatly. These memoirs revealed a region that was still hidden from the eyes of the Arab reader interested in German Orientalism and Western academia, as we did not know of any other scholar besides Brocklmann who confided in us, loved himself, and revealed his struggles and burdens. He took us into his home, his classrooms, and sat us at his evening tables, standing us on his views on the overall events and personalities he encountered in these memoirs or memories, which, in their pages, he kept mentioning himself and reminding us that he was still addressing only that lost son.