Naphtali Berlinger

Naphtali Berlinger (born December 4, 1876 in Braunsbach ; died February 20, 1943 in the Theresienstadt ghetto ) was a German teacher and the last rabbi of Buttenhausen (today: district of Münsingen (Württemberg) ).

Life

Naphtali Berlinger was born as the son of Rabbi Menco Berlinger (1831–1903) in Braunsbach im Kochertal. His brother, Rabbi Dr. Jacob Berlinger (1866–1945) was the Rabbi von Braunsbach. From April 4, 1902, Naphtali Berlinger was the teacher of the Jewish school and worked as a prayer leader for the Jewish community in Hohebach . On December 22, 1901 he married Hanna Marx (born November 16, 1876), who came from Buttenhausen near Münsingen. Their first son Jakob was born on November 26, 1902 in Hohebach.

On August 17, 1908, Naphtali Berlinger moved to Buttenhausen on the Swabian Alb. There he took up the position of teacher on September 1, 1908. In Buttenhausen existed since Jews Schutzbrief of Baron Philipp Friedrich von Liebenstein (1730-1799) and his wife, Katharina Friederike born von Schmidberg founded a small Jewish community on July 7, 1787 . In 1908 there were 190 Jewish citizens living in Buttenhausen, which was almost 28% of the village's population at the time. However, the high of 442 Jewish residents reached in 1870 was long gone.

Buttenhausen was the smallest of the 13 Württemberg rabbinical districts. After 1887 there was no longer a rabbi there. The community was attached to the Buchau rabbinate. However, individual tasks were carried out by the respective teacher at the Jewish school. When Naphtali Berlinger came to Buttenhausen in 1908 as a teacher at the Jewish school, he was also the prayer leader for the Jewish community. He was also active in his community as a shochet and mohel .

Berlinger also acquired his work in Buttenhausen a. a. great service as a specialist teacher at the Protestant elementary school and at the Bernheimer Realschule . His comprehensive, scientific education and his orthodox religious attitude earned him great respect, also among the local Christians. His lessons were partly shaped by reform pedagogy and expressly included observations and descriptions of nature.

From 1914 to 1918 Naphtali Berlinger took part in the First World War as a soldier .

His wife Hanna Berlinger, who came from Buttenhausen, gave birth to three children in Hohebach and then another five in Buttenhausen, so that the family grew to ten people. The children were named Jakob (born 1902), Jetta (born 1904), Menko (born 1905), Sarah (born 1908), Anselm (born 1909), Berta (born 1909), Fanny (born 1908) . 1917) and Leopold (born 1919). Hanna Berlinger died on December 8, 1934 at the age of 58 from complications from a stroke. The grave stone of Hanna Berlinger is found in the upper part of the Jewish cemetery Buttenhausen .

Naphtali Berlinger was dismissed from school in 1933 as a result of the anti-Jewish measures of the Nazi regime. On November 10, 1938, the synagogue in Buttenhausen was destroyed by SA men from neighboring cities. After 1933, Naphtali brought all of his children to safety, but remained with his severely decimated community until the end. On August 22, 1942, he was the last transport Butt Hausener Jews in the Theresienstadt ghetto deported . There he died on February 20, 1943 of illness and emaciation at the age of 66.

literature

• Manfred Efinger : Dr. Jakob Berlinger (1902–1953). In: Geschichtsverein Münsingen (ed.): Münsinger yearbook 3rd and 4th year, Münsingen 2011.
• City of Münsingen (ed.), Edited by Günter Randecker: Jews and their homeland Buttenhausen. Münsingen 1988.
• City of Münsingen (Hrsg.): Jews in Buttenhausen. Permanent exhibition in the Bernheimer Realschule. Münsingen 1994.
• Eberhard Zacher: The pogrom of the 9./10. November 1938 in Buttenhausen. In: Geschichtsverein Münsingen (ed.): Münsinger Jahrbuch 2nd year, Münsingen 2009, pp. 71–77.
• Eberhard Zacher: "We as Jews can never forget this time" - The Jews of Buttenhausen. In: Materials , State Center for Civic Education Baden-Württemberg, 2nd edition, Stuttgart 2014.

Web links

• The Berlinger Project