Walter Rothschild

Rabbi Dr. Erich Bienheim Walter Rothschild

''Rabbi Dr. Erich Bienheim came from a small village in northern Germany, studied in Berlin, served as Rabbi in Darmstadt, then suffered the horrors of Nazi concentration camps and exile and British internment, before coming to serve as rabbi in Bradford for the last thirteen years of his life. Sadly he left few records and no close family but Rabbi Dr. Walter Rothschild learned his first Hebrew letters from Bienheim - he was only seven when his first rabbi died - and in a way the seeds were sown for a mirror career that has led to him leaving England and serving as Rabbi in Germany. Some rabbis become famous, others do not and Bienheim was one of the latter, but he served faithfully and well and deserves to be remembered, at least, as one of those who toiled in the vineyards of the Lord - even if the harvest was often but bitter grapes. This is a personal biography, written from a Rabbi's perspective - and who would know better what that means?''