Hans S. Bodenheimer

Rabbi Hans S. Bodenheimer (1913-1999) was born in Bad Nauheim Germany and emigrated to the United States in 1939. In 1942 he and a group of German immigrants founded Congregation Tikvoh Chadoshoh “New Hope” in Hartford, where he served as Rabbi until his retirement. After meeting in borrowed space for many years, the Congregation’s first building was dedicated in 1956. In 1971, following a series of anti-Semitic acts in Hartford, the congregation built a new synagogue in Bloomfield.

Bodenheimer and his future wife, Alma, barely survived Kristallnacht in 1938. Bodenheimer was arrested and deported to Buchenwald where he was held for five weeks and then released. Prior to the Wansee Convention of 1942 that led to the “Final Solution,” Jewish detainees were often held in custody for a period of time and then released. Although Bodenheimer’s captivity predated the advent of the extermination camps, his experiences at Buchenwald were both horrific and traumatic. In 1939 he was granted a visa and came to the United States.

Besides his rabbinical duties, Bodenheimer had many other interests and talents. He served as chaplain to the Bloomfield Fire Department, and was one of the few people in the United Sates qualified to repair Torah scrolls.