Leo Trepp
Encyclopedia
Leo Trepp was a German-born
American rabbi
who was the last surviving rabbi who had led a congregation in Nazi Germany
during the early days of The Holocaust
.
, Germany
. He studied philosophy
and philology
at the University of Frankfurt and the University of Berlin
and in 1935 received his doctorate from the University of Würzburg
. He was ordained by the Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums
in 1936. Trepp recalled having conducted his first seder in 1936 in Oldenburg
, when he was a newly ordained rabbi in Nazi Germany, leading the 15 synagogues in the district. He saw that he had a dual role in working "to keep the Jewish community from breaking down, while at the same time give many fellow believers the possibility to emigrate". As Jews were forbidden to attend public schools, Trepp asked the local Nazi officials if he could form a school in a synagogue in Oldenburg to educate Jewish children together with Aryan students, and was given approval for his plan, along with funding for school supplies and desks, as well as rent for the space that was being used as a school.
, an anti-Semitic pogrom
that took place on the night of November 9, 1938 and resulted in the destruction of hundreds of synagogues and the deaths of 91 Jews, Trepp was arrested and placed in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp
, where he was held as one of as many as 30,000 Jews who were arrested and held in prison camps by the Nazis. In the wake of Jews being detained and dying, Trepp saw his role as being part of "a very rewarding rabbinate because the Jews needed me". He recalled the inmates being called out in Sachsenhausen at 4:00 in the morning, seeing the guard towers manned with soldiers holding machine guns and being told "You are the dregs of humanity. I don't see why you should live". He told God that he was prepared to die, but was overcome with the feeling that "God was with me. I know God was there. In the concentration camp with me. And it was the worst place for it. That's why it was the best."
Trepp was released from Sachsenhausen after 18 days of incarceration through the intervention of the Joseph Herman Hertz, the Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom—under the condition that he and his wife had two weeks to leave the country.
He went first to England
and then to the United States
in 1940. He ultimately moved to Northern California
, where he led three congregations, including Beth Ami in Santa Rosa, California
and Beth El in Berkeley
.
to students at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz
. He was the author of the books The Complete Book of Jewish Observance, A History of the Jewish Experience and Judaism: Development and Life.
Despite his longstanding efforts at fostering Christian-Jewish reconciliation
, Trepp expressed concern that in the hands of nationalists and Islamists
that "Anti-Semitism has become acceptable again". Speaking to German youth in 1993, he stated that "You bear no guilt for what your grandparents did. But there is responsibility. Germany must become the leading country in the fight against anti-Semitism."
Trepp was the subject of the 2009 German language
documentary film Der Letzte Rabbiner by Christian Walther, which was translated into English and shown as The Last Rabbi. A resident of San Francisco, Rabbi Trepp conducted his 74th, and final, Passover Seder
there with his extended family in 2010. Trepp died at age 97 on September 2, 2010, in San Francisco.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
American rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
who was the last surviving rabbi who had led a congregation in Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
during the early days of The Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
.
Early life and work
Trepp was born on March 4, 1913, in MainzMainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. He studied philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
and philology
Philology
Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...
at the University of Frankfurt and the University of Berlin
Humboldt University of Berlin
The Humboldt University of Berlin is Berlin's oldest university, founded in 1810 as the University of Berlin by the liberal Prussian educational reformer and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt, whose university model has strongly influenced other European and Western universities...
and in 1935 received his doctorate from the University of Würzburg
University of Würzburg
The University of Würzburg is a university in Würzburg, Germany, founded in 1402. The university is a member of the distinguished Coimbra Group.-Name:...
. He was ordained by the Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums
Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums
The Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums, or Higher Institute for Jewish Studies, was a rabbinical seminary, established in Berlin in 1872 destroyed by the Nazi government of Germany in 1942...
in 1936. Trepp recalled having conducted his first seder in 1936 in Oldenburg
Oldenburg
Oldenburg is an independent city in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the western part of the state between the cities of Bremen and Groningen, Netherlands, at the Hunte river. It has a population of 160,279 which makes it the fourth biggest city in Lower Saxony after Hanover, Braunschweig...
, when he was a newly ordained rabbi in Nazi Germany, leading the 15 synagogues in the district. He saw that he had a dual role in working "to keep the Jewish community from breaking down, while at the same time give many fellow believers the possibility to emigrate". As Jews were forbidden to attend public schools, Trepp asked the local Nazi officials if he could form a school in a synagogue in Oldenburg to educate Jewish children together with Aryan students, and was given approval for his plan, along with funding for school supplies and desks, as well as rent for the space that was being used as a school.
Imprisonment
On KristallnachtKristallnacht
Kristallnacht, also referred to as the Night of Broken Glass, and also Reichskristallnacht, Pogromnacht, and Novemberpogrome, was a pogrom or series of attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria on 9–10 November 1938.Jewish homes were ransacked, as were shops, towns and...
, an anti-Semitic pogrom
Pogrom
A pogrom is a form of violent riot, a mob attack directed against a minority group, and characterized by killings and destruction of their homes and properties, businesses, and religious centres...
that took place on the night of November 9, 1938 and resulted in the destruction of hundreds of synagogues and the deaths of 91 Jews, Trepp was arrested and placed in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp
Sachsenhausen concentration camp
Sachsenhausen or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used primarily for political prisoners from 1936 to the end of the Third Reich in May, 1945. After World War II, when Oranienburg was in the Soviet Occupation Zone, the structure was used as an NKVD...
, where he was held as one of as many as 30,000 Jews who were arrested and held in prison camps by the Nazis. In the wake of Jews being detained and dying, Trepp saw his role as being part of "a very rewarding rabbinate because the Jews needed me". He recalled the inmates being called out in Sachsenhausen at 4:00 in the morning, seeing the guard towers manned with soldiers holding machine guns and being told "You are the dregs of humanity. I don't see why you should live". He told God that he was prepared to die, but was overcome with the feeling that "God was with me. I know God was there. In the concentration camp with me. And it was the worst place for it. That's why it was the best."
Trepp was released from Sachsenhausen after 18 days of incarceration through the intervention of the Joseph Herman Hertz, the Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom—under the condition that he and his wife had two weeks to leave the country.
He went first to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and then to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1940. He ultimately moved to Northern California
Northern California
Northern California is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The San Francisco Bay Area , and Sacramento as well as its metropolitan area are the main population centers...
, where he led three congregations, including Beth Ami in Santa Rosa, California
Santa Rosa, California
Santa Rosa is the county seat of Sonoma County, California, United States. The 2010 census reported a population of 167,815. Santa Rosa is the largest city in California's Wine Country and fifth largest city in the San Francisco Bay Area, after San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, and Fremont and 26th...
and Beth El in Berkeley
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
.
After the war
Trepp was a frequent visitor to Mainz, where he was involved in the restoration and revitalization of the Weisenau synagogue. Starting in 1983, Trepp spent 20 years teaching Jewish religion, Jewish mysticism and TalmudTalmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
to students at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz
Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz
The Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz is a university in Mainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany, named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg. With approximately 36,000 students in about 150 schools and clinics, it is among the ten largest universities in Germany...
. He was the author of the books The Complete Book of Jewish Observance, A History of the Jewish Experience and Judaism: Development and Life.
Despite his longstanding efforts at fostering Christian-Jewish reconciliation
Christian-Jewish reconciliation
Reconciliation between Christianity and Judaism refers to the efforts that are being made to improve understanding of the Jewish people and of Judaism, to do away with Christian antisemitism and Jewish anti-Christian sentiment...
, Trepp expressed concern that in the hands of nationalists and Islamists
Islamism
Islamism also , lit., "Political Islam" is set of ideologies holding that Islam is not only a religion but also a political system. Islamism is a controversial term, and definitions of it sometimes vary...
that "Anti-Semitism has become acceptable again". Speaking to German youth in 1993, he stated that "You bear no guilt for what your grandparents did. But there is responsibility. Germany must become the leading country in the fight against anti-Semitism."
Trepp was the subject of the 2009 German language
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
documentary film Der Letzte Rabbiner by Christian Walther, which was translated into English and shown as The Last Rabbi. A resident of San Francisco, Rabbi Trepp conducted his 74th, and final, Passover Seder
Passover Seder
The Passover Seder is a Jewish ritual feast that marks the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted on the evenings of the 14th day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar, and on the 15th by traditionally observant Jews living outside Israel. This corresponds to late March or April in...
there with his extended family in 2010. Trepp died at age 97 on September 2, 2010, in San Francisco.