This page was translated from the German original with the help of AI. The German version is authoritative.

Heinrich Bomhoff – a tribute

Heinrich Bomhoff (1937 – 2014) lived in Bruchmühlen in the joint municipality (Samtgemeinde) of Bruchhausen-Vilsen. After an apprenticeship as a wholesale merchant, he worked at the Equalisation of Burdens Office (Lastenausgleichsamt) of the district of Verden until his retirement. Even as a child he was consciously aware of the fear and inhumanity of the Nazi state, from which his disabled brother had to be hidden. He himself still knew one of the last Jewish residents, Riekchen Meyer, and witnessed her disappearance, which at the time he could not explain. This may account for his lifelong interest in the history of his home town and in the crimes of the Nazi regime.

Heinrich Bomhoff  devoted all his energy to researching the local  and regional history of the former district of Hoya and the neighbouring areas. Through his meticulous searches of old local newspapers and local history publications, he built up an extensive collection of material  and was involved in several source editions.  He made an outstanding contribution to the biographical research on the art critic and patron Julius Elias, who was born in Hoya and became a supporter of important German artists such as Käthe Kollwitz and Carl Zuckmayer. Traces of his work can be found in the publications of countless historians and local historians whom he assisted in their research.

His planned book on Jewish life in the joint municipality of Bruchhausen-Vilsen had been announced for many years, but it was not completed before his death.

His research has been incorporated into this documentation.