Five generations of the Rosenheimer family were born in the town of Archshofen, near Würzburg, from the time the family settled there in the early 19th century. In the 1930s, brothers Theodor and Moshe Rosenheimer moved to Würzburg, where they made a living in textiles and real-estate. Their younger brother Siegfried remained in Archshofen, where he served as the synagogue beadle.
After the Nazi's rise to power, Theodor Rosenheimer travelled to Eretz Israel (Mandatory Palestine). He returned to Europe convinced that his family should leave Germany and immigrate to Eretz Israel.
In late 1936, Theodor and Siegfried and their families, and their mother Sally immigrated to Eretz Israel on the passenger ship "Galila". Moshe and his family eventually followed.
Realizing before his departure that there was no future for the Jewish community in Archshofen, Siegfried decided to take a risk and bring the synagogue's Torah scroll, Shofar (ritual ram's horn) and some Jewish books with him. He concealed these items inside a narrow container, so that they would not stand out amongst the rest of the family's belongings.
A short time after the Rosenheimers' departure, most of the Jews of Archshofen left the town. The few remaining Jewish residents were deported to the camps after the outbreak of war.
For the first years after the family's immigration to Eretz Israel, the Torah scroll was used in the improvised synagogue established by Central European immigrants in Haifa. After the passing of Siegfried and Grete Rosenheimer, the scroll was moved to Kibbutz Beit Hashita.
Many years later, the Torah scroll was donated to the Yad Vashem Artifacts Collection for posterity, in memory of the Jewish community of Archshofen that was destroyed in World War II.
Yad Vashem Artifacts Collection
Donated by Gad Rosenheimer, Haifa
