The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) was an aid organization founded in 1902 in the USA to assist Jewish immigrants fleeing pogroms in Russia and Eastern Europe. Its predecessor had already been active since 1880. After World War II, HIAS assisted Jewish survivors in their search for relatives and facilitated the emigration of Jewish DPs, primarily to North America.

The Poale Zion (Heb. workers of Zion) organization, founded by Eastern European Jews in 1907, combined the concepts of Zionism and socialism. Differences of opinion in how to achieve these goals led to a split into Social Democratic and Communist factions. Poale Zion was instrumental in setting up agricultural settlements in Palestine / Israel.

Apart from the autonomous Jewish criminal courts which dealt with everyday offenses, so-called Courts of Honor also existed. These passed judgment on collaborators and so-called “Kapos,” in particular, who had worked with the Nazis during the era of persecution or had mistreated fellow prisoners. A verdict of guilty could result in social ostracism, a reduction of the food allowance, imprisonment, or even expulsion from the DP community.

The Jidisze Sport Cajtung (JSC), an organ of the Central Committee and the Association of Jewish Gymnastics and Sports Clubs was printed by the Munich printer’s H. Lindner at Herzogstrasse 7. The newspaper reported on all Jewish DP sporting activities, especially football, between May 1947 and June 1948. In addition to the First League, which was divided into a southern and northern group, there were five regional leagues in Franconia, Frankfurt, Kassel, Regensburg, and Upper Bavaria. A total of about 80 teams were included in the league.

At the initiative of the Yiddish writer David Volpe and the historian Israel Kaplan, a writers’ association was founded in Munich in summer 1946. By the end of October the association had 31 members; a year later 71. In addition to the 43 journalists and 18 writers, it also included ten representatives of the visual arts. Although the group saw itself as an association of Hebrew and Yiddish-speaking writers, only three members described themselves as Hebrew speakers. The writers’ association presumably dissolved in early 1949.

Jewish survivors from Eastern Europe founded the Central Historical Commission in Munich in November 1945 with the aim of documenting the annihilation of Jewry in Europe. Despite their precarious living conditions and their very heterogeneous backgrounds, Jews were encouraged by historians and activists to provide direct witness accounts of events during the Shoah, using questionnaires and interviews.

In October 1945, the Chief Rabbinate was established at the Central Committee of the Liberated Jews in Bavaria. The two Lithuanian rabbis Samuel A. Snieg and Samuel Ros were at its head. In addition, Rabbi Baruch Leiserowksi was on the council representing the urban district of Munich. The council was responsible for all religious matters and appointed representatives in all DP camps.

The synagogue in Herxheim near Landau/Pfalz, a local community in the district of Südliche Weinstraße in Rhineland-Palatinate, was built in 1841/42. The synagogue stood at Obere Hauptstra e 18.

The Stuttgart address book 1930 contains the following entry: Bonem Paul, Dr. med., specialist for internal diseases, Schellingstraße 13. 1.  -  Paul Bonem was born on June 21, 1888 in St. Wendel. His parents were Hermann Bonem, born on December 11, 1866 in Neumagen and Delphine Bonem, née Daniel. After his studies and his doctorate in medicine in Heidelberg in 1923, he initially worked at the Institute of Physiology at the University of Heidelberg. He later worked as a specialist in internal medicine at the Katharinenhospital in Stuttgart.

The Stuttgart address book 1930 contains the following entry: Heilbronner Edgar, specialist in surgery and orthopaedics, Schloßstraße 12A - private residence Am Kräherwald 203/1. - Edgar Jakob Heilbronner was born in Stuttgart on July 19, 1890. After studying medicine at the Universities of Munich, Berlin and Freiburg and passing his medical examination in 1913, Edgar Heilbronner successfully completed his doctorate at the University of Freiburg in 1915.