Abraham Mannheimer succeeded Jakob Kahn as teacher of the Jewish community in Dettelbach in 1898. It was thanks to him, among other things, that the Dettelbach Jewish elementary school was opened in the local synagogue in May 1909.
Abraham Mannheimer
Abraham Mannheimer (6.01.1867 in Okriftel - 13.02.1943 in Theresienstadt) succeeded the teacher Jakob Kahn as teacher of the Jewish community in Dettelbach in 1898 (1).
Abraham Mannheimer was born in Okriftel on January 6, 1867 and was married to Bertha Lom, who was born in Mönchdeggingen in 1866. They had five daughters. Sara (born 30.01.1897 Harburg - Ev. No. 429 deported to Izbica/Lublin on 25.04.1942), Frieda (born 13.11.1899 Dettelbach - Ev. No. 430 deported to Izbica/Lublin on 25.04.1942), Lea (born 14.10.1901 Dettelbach - Ev. No. 431 deported to Izbica/Lublin on 25.04.1942) fell victim to the Holocaust and were declared dead in 1955. Ida Mannheimer, born in Dettelbach on August 9, 1903, emigrated to America and was thus able to escape deportation by the National Socialists. The youngest daughter Hedwig, born on 04.07.1904 in Dettelbach, was only just over a year old and died on 16.12.1905 in Dettelbach. The Mannheimer family had lived in Dettelbach in the synagogue at Häfner Markt, house no. 272 (2).
Like his predecessor, Jakob Kahn, Abraham Mannheimer also enjoyed great popularity in the Jewish and Christian communities in Dettelbach. The generally good relationship between Jews and non-Jews in Dettelbach is probably due to both of them. In an article published in the "Bayerische Israelitische Gemeindezeitung" on January 15, 1937 on the occasion of his 70th birthday, Abraham Mannheimer is described as "a personality full of character, true to his convictions, an ideal-minded and successful teacher and educator and a clever and witty writer" (3).
It is thanks to Abraham Mannheimer, among others, that the Dettelbach Israelite elementary school was opened in the local synagogue on May 1, 1909. Mannheimer's position as a religious school teacher was thus converted into an elementary school teacher position. As the number of local children attending the Israelite elementary school became smaller and smaller, the school was finally closed on November 30, 1923 and the two classrooms were used as a religious school again until 1938 (4).
Abraham Mannheimer was also very active as a writer and published numerous texts in the "Bayerische Israelitische Gemeindezeitung" and the magazine "Der Israelit" (5).
Abraham Mannheimer had also collected, organized and recorded the old files available in the community, thus forming the basis of an archive of the Jewish community. Mannheimer gave a lecture on this work in the fall of 1913 in which he presented the results. Mannheimer had also written a chronicle. Through a lecture in autumn 1913, in which he presented the results of his work, he inspired the board of the neighboring community of Mainstockheim to also sift through and organize the existing records (6).
Mannheimer's wife Berta died at the age of 62 on April 23, 1927 in Dettelbach. She was buried in the Jewish cemetery in Rödelsee, where her gravestone can still be found today. Abraham Mannheimer was deported to Theresienstadt on September 23, 1942 under evacuation number 139 and died in the Theresienstadt ghetto on February 13, 1943 (7).
Julia Müller-Halbleib