Researching a rabbi who moved from Germany to Millburn
The Less family of Heidelberg, Germany, came to the Jewish Historical Society of Greater MetroWest to research the papers of Dr. Max Gruenewald, which had been in the collection of Congregation B’nai Israel of Millburn. Rabbi Gruenewald had been the rabbi of the Haupt Synagogue in Mannheim, Germany, when it was destroyed during Kristallnacht in 1938; later, after he and his parents escaped to the United States, he led B’nai Israel. In 1950, two stones from the Haupt Synagogue were retrieved and placed in the walls of the sanctuary. Documents in the collection detail the work done to locate and ship the stones from Mannheim to Millburn.
To see this and other collections at the JHS, email archivist Jill Hershorin at jhershorin@jfedgmw.org or call (973) 929-2995.
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