Berthold Oppenheim
A spiritual leader who shepherded his community for nearly five decades before being murdered by the Nazis at Treblinka.
1867–1942 (age 75)·Birthday: July 29·The Gilded Age
Biography
Berthold Oppenheim was born into a world of Central European Jewish tradition and became the rabbi of Olomouc, Moravia, in 1892. For 47 years, he guided the community through the twilight of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and into the turbulent years of the First Czechoslovak Republic. His life's work, dedicated to faith and community, was violently upended by the Nazi occupation. In 1939, he was removed from his post, and in 1942, at the age of 75, he was deported to the Theresienstadt ghetto and then to the Treblinka extermination camp, where he was murdered. His story is a quiet testament to the erased history of countless local leaders whose worlds were destroyed.
The Gilded Age
1860–1882
Born during or after the Civil War, they built industrial America — the railroads, the steel mills, the first skyscrapers. An era of massive wealth, massive inequality, and the belief that the future belonged to whoever could build it fastest.
Berthold was born in 1867, placing them squarely in The Gilded Age. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Berthold Was Born
The biggest hits of 1867
Berthold's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1867Born
President: Andrew Johnson
1872Started school
President: Ulysses S. Grant
1880Became a teenager
Edison patents the incandescent light bulb
President: Rutherford B. Hayes
1883Could drive
President: Chester A. Arthur
1885Could vote
Karl Benz builds the first gasoline-powered automobile
President: Grover Cleveland
1888Turned 21
President: Grover Cleveland
1897Turned 30
President: William McKinley
1907Turned 40
Financial panic grips Wall Street
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1917Turned 50
Russian Revolution overthrows the tsar; US enters WWI
President: Woodrow Wilson
1927Turned 60
Lindbergh flies solo across the Atlantic; The Jazz Singer premieres
President: Calvin Coolidge"My Blue Heaven" — Gene Austin
1937Turned 70
Hindenburg disaster; Golden Gate Bridge opens
Gas: $0.20/galPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"A-Tisket, A-Tasket" — Ella FitzgeraldBest Picture: The Life of Emile Zola
1942Died at 75
Battle of Midway turns the tide in the Pacific
Gas: $0.20/galHome: $3,175Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"White Christmas" — Bing CrosbyBest Picture: Mrs. Miniver
Key Achievements
- Served as the Rabbi of Olomouc, Moravia, for 47 consecutive years, from 1892 to 1939.
- Led one of the significant Jewish communities in Moravia through the end of the Habsburg era and the rise of Czechoslovakia.
- His life and tragic death are documented as part of the history of the Holocaust in the Czech lands.
Did You Know?
He was ordained as a rabbi at the age of 25.
Olomouc, where he served, was a major center of Jewish life in Moravia.
His final deportation was part of the Nazi transports designated 'AA' from Theresienstadt to Treblinka in 1942.
“A rabbi's duty is to teach Torah, even when the night is falling.”
