Rabbiner Dr. Erich Bienheim

Erich Bienheim (1898-1962), who came from the tiny community of Duingen in northern Germany, studied at the Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums in Berlin with Ismar Elbogen and with Leo Baeck. He received his doctorate in Würzburg and was rabbi in Berlin from 1924 to 1927, then at the liberal synagogue in Darmstadt until 1939. When the National Socialists came to power, he lost everything he had built up and achieved until then. On 10 November 1938, Bienheim was arrested by the Gestapo and deported to Buchenwald concentration camp, from where he was released after four weeks on condition that he leave Germany as soon as possible. In 1939 he emigrated to England, was rabbi at the West End Synagogue in London from 1946 to 1949 and at the Reform Synagogue in Bradford from 1949 until shortly before his death in 1962. Walter Rothschild is dedicated to the life and work of Bienheim, who was able to re-establish himself with a new language in a new country despite all adversities - in the author's hometown, whose ancestors also found their exile there.