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Hans S. Bodenheimer

Summary Information

Repository
Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford
Title
Hans S. Bodenheimer
ID
Rabbi.0012.001.005b
Date [inclusive]
1933-1999
Extent
8.0 Cubic feet
Language
English
Biographical/Historical
Biographical/Historical note 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.
Scope and Contents
Scope and Contents note The collection consists primarily of material related to the founding and growth of congregation Tikvoh Chadoshoh. A small amount of more personal material is also included. Bodenheimer's autobiography From Bad Nauheim to Bloomfield: My Journey of Faith details his life in both Germany and the United States.

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Administrative Information

Publication Information
Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford

333 Bloomfield Avenue
West Hartford, CT, 06117
860-727-6171
ekafer@jewishhartford.org

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Collection Inventory

Series I: Congregation Tikvoh Chadoshoh
Congregation Tikvoh Chadoshoh/Anniversaries/10th, 1952
Dates
1952
Congregation Tikvoh Chadoshoh/Anniversaries/20th, 1961
Dates
1961
Congregation Tikvoh Chadoshoh/Anniversaries/25th, 1966
Dates
1966
Congregation Tikvoh Chadoshoh/Anniversaries/35th, 1977
Dates
1977
Congregation Tikvoh Chadoshoh/Anniversaries/40th, 1981
Dates
1981
Congregation Tikvoh Chadoshoh/Anniversaries/45th, 1987
Dates
1987
Congregation Tikvoh Chadoshoh/Anniversaries/50th, 1992
Dates
1992
Congregation Tikvoh Chadoshoh/Book of fundraising tickets for Synagogue, 1950s
Dates
1950-1959
Congregation Tikvoh Chadoshoh/Buildings
Dates
undated
Congregation Tikvoh Chadoshoh/Buildings, 1957
Dates
1957
Congregation Tikvoh Chadoshoh/Cemetery
Dates
undated
Congregation Tikvoh Chadoshoh/Chanukah parties, 1948-1951
Dates
1948-1951
Congregation Tikvoh Chadoshoh/Constitution and by-laws
Dates
undated
Congregation Tikvoh Chadoshoh/Midrasha
Dates
undated
Congregation Tikvoh Chadoshoh/Newsletter, 1940s
Dates
1940-1949
Congregation Tikvoh Chadoshoh/Newsletter, 1970s
Dates
1970-1979
Congregation Tikvoh Chadoshoh/Newspaper clippings
Dates
undated
Congregation Tikvoh Chadoshoh/Plays for children by Mrs. Bodenheimer
Dates
undated
Congregation Tikvoh Chadoshoh/Religious School/Graduation program
Dates
undated
Congregation Tikvoh Chadoshoh/Religious School/Hartford Bar Mitzvah News, edited by Rev. and Mrs. Hans S. Bodenheimer, 1940s?
Dates
undated
Congregation Tikvoh Chadoshoh/Religious School/Merger with Beth Hillel and Beth Ahm, 1986-1987
Dates
1986-1987
Congregation Tikvoh Chadoshoh/Religious School/Samaritan Genesis
Dates
undated
Congregation Tikvoh Chadoshoh/Religious School/Yearbooks, 1960s-1970s
Dates
1960-1979
Congregation Tikvoh Chadoshoh/Sisterhood
Dates
undated
Congregation Tikvoh Chadoshoh/Trees for Israel
Dates
undated

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Series II: Synagogues, Miscellaneous and A-G
Synagogues/Beth David Synagogue
Dates
undated
Synagogues/Beth El
Dates
undated
Synagogues/Beth Hillel Synagogue
Dates
undated
Synagogues/Congregation Agudas Achim
Dates
undated
Synagogues/Congregation Beth Israel
Dates
undated
Synagogues/Congregation Chevrah Lomdai Mishnayes
Dates
undated
Synagogues/Congregation Teferes Israel
Dates
undated
Synagogues/Emanuel Synagogue
Dates
undated
Synagogues/Emanuel Synagogue/Burial of Torah scrolls destroyed by arson, 1983
Dates
1983
Synagogues/Temple Beth Tefilah
Dates
undated
Synagogues/Temple Beth Torah
Dates
undated
Awards
Dates
undated
Benevolent Organizations/Miscellaneous
Dates
undated
Biographical/From Bad Nauheim to Bloomfield: My Journey of Faith by Rabbi Hans S. Bodenheimer, 1999
Dates
1999
Biographical/Newspaper clippings
Dates
undated
Bodenheimer, Alma R. (wife)
Dates
undated
Cemetery, B'nai Israel
Dates
undated
Correspondence
Dates
undated
Correspondence/Dodd, Thomas J.
Scope and Contents
Brief correspondance between Bodenheimer and Dodd Shows Dodd tried to communicate with his constituents frequently and in different ways
Dates
1959-1964
Location Note
Letter to Rev Bodenheimer about Federal Firearms Act Letter from Rev Bodenheimer showing support Schedule of radio/TV appearances for Dodd Dodd's Report from Washington (1959) Dodd's year end report including reflections on JFK's assassination (1963)
Correspondence/Reagan, Ronald
Dates
undated
Documents/Israelitischer Oberrat Stuttgart (Jewish Municipality of Stuttgart), 1936, folder of communications in German
Dates
1936
Ephemera/Miscellaneous
Dates
undated
Events/Miscellaneous
Dates
undated
Greater Hartford Rabbinic Fellowship/Correspondence
Dates
undated
Greater Hartford Rabbinic Fellowship/Members
Dates
undated
Greater Hartford Rabbinic Fellowship/minutes
Dates
undated
Greater Hartford Rabbinic Fellowship/Projects/Funeral Practices
Dates
undated
Greater Hartford Rabbinic Fellowship/Projects/Miscellaneous
Dates
undated

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Series III: H-Z
History Book, "Sinai and Palestine, In Connection with their History" by Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, D.D., 1864
Dates
1864
Location Note
1 leather bound publication
Holocaust
Dates
undated
Holocaust/Warsaw Uprising
Dates
undated
Interfaith
Dates
undated
Israel
Dates
undated
Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford
Dates
undated
Miscellaneous/In German
Dates
undated
Newspaper clippings
Dates
undated
Newspaper clippings/Burning of the Books, in German, 1933
Dates
1933
Newspaper clippings/German language
Dates
undated
Notebook
Dates
undated
Olympics/memorial to 1972 Hostages, 1984
Dates
1984
Rabbinical Assembly Manual, 1952
Dates
1952
Speeches and Sermons
Dates
undated
Yeshiva of Hartford
Dates
undated
Wiesel, Elie\Two Images: One Destiny, pamphlet issued by United Jewish Appeal
Dates
undated

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Oversize
Certificate awarded to Rabbi Bodenheimer on 25th anniversary of congregation Tikvoh Chadoshoh
Dates
undated
Citation from Connecticut General Assembly, 1996
Dates
1996
Drawing of Congregation Tikvoh Chadoshoh, 1968
Dates
1968

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Artifacts
Carved nameplate for desk
Dates
undated
Tefflin bags
Dates
undated
B'nai B'rith pin
Dates
undated
Commemorative medal dated 1985
Dates
1985
2 white kepah
Dates
undated
Bell, decorated
Dates
undated
2 small decorative boxes
Dates
undated
Money collection can
Dates
undated
Wall hanging of word "Shalom" from Israel
Dates
undated
Wimple
Dates
undated
4 shofars
Dates
undated
Jug from Holland
Dates
undated
Sabbath lamp
Dates
undated

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