Die Brüder Theodor und Abraham Lehmann und ihre Familien
(The brothers Theodor and Abraham Lehmann and their families)
Zeugnisse jüdischer Auswanderung aus Lengfeld im Odenwald
(Testimonies of Jewish emigration from Lengfeld in the Odenwald)
von Heike Brohm
There are hardly any reminders of Jewish life in Lengfeld in the Odenwald. And yet Jewish and non-Jewish people lived there in close proximity to each other.
Two brothers - two decisions - two family fates. Theodor and Abraham Lehmann, whose biographies are told in this book, were born in 1872 and 1867 in the small Odenwald community as members of a widespread Jewish family. Their youth was shaped by the rise of anti-Semitism. This permeated people's everyday lives long before the murderous persecution of Jews by the National Socialists and was taken for granted by large sections of the population.
Theodor and Abraham Lehmann left Germany with their families in 1900 and 1933, emigrating to the United States and Argentina respectively. While one family turned their backs on discrimination in Germany, members of the other family only narrowly escaped extermination in the Holocaust by fleeing.
In addition to the archival documents that are still accessible, authentic photographic documents and knowledge from both families as well as the memoirs written by – as he used to call himself in the USA – Theodore Lehmann have also been included in this book - all these materials reflect a valuable piece of German-Jewish tradition and emigration history.
242 p., text in German language, 21 cm, hardcover, with color pictures and many documents
Author:
Heike Brohm, born in 1963, has published articles on the Jewish history of Lengfeld and the beginnings of her own family history in the magazines “Hessische Genealogie” and “Der Odenwald”. Her story “Oh, wie schön ist Eutergrund” was published by Odenwald-Verlag in 2023.
