Wertheimer, William, 1897-1980

Born in Hardheim on March 26, 1897, Willy Wertheimer emigrated to the United States circa 1939 and lived in New York City. He served in the German army during World War I, for which he received honors and medals from both the German and Austrian governments, and later he served in United States Army during World War II. He was cantor and religion teacher for the general region of Odenwald from 1918-1938, with tenures first in Buchen and then in Hardheim, where upon his father Emanuel's death he inherited his position as religious instructor. After emigrating to the United States, he remained deeply tied to the German Jewish community in New York and in Europe, and continued work as a cantor and religious instructor at various Brooklyn German-Jewish congregations. Shortly after the end of the second World War, he began working in his free time on two major projects: German-Jewish reconciliation, and the planting of memorial trees in Israel dedicated to the memory of the fallen German-Jewish soldiers of the first World War. During his final decades, especially during the 1970s, he devoted an increasing amount of time to these projects. He also became interested in genealogy during these years. In 1976 he self-published an autobiography entitled Zwishen zwei Welten; der Förster von Brooklyn. Lebenserinnerungen des ehemaligen jüdischen Lehrers in Eubigheim und Buchen in Baden ( Between two worlds: the Brooklyn forest ranger ). William Wertheimer died in New York in 1980.

From the guide to the Willy Wertheimer Collection, 1892-1980, (Leo Baeck Institute Archives)