Rabbi Hans S. Bodenheimer was born in Bad Nauheim Germany and emigrated to the United States in 1939. In 1942, he and a group of German immigrants founded Congregation Tikvoh Chadoshoh ("New Hope") in Hartford, where he served as Rabbi until his retirement.

Rabbi Bodenheimer and his future wife, Alma, barely survived Kristallnacht in 1938. He was arrested and imprisoned in Buchenwald where he was held for five weeks and then released. Prior to the Wansee Convention of 1942 that led to the "Final Solution," Jewish detainees were often held in custody for a period of time and then released. Although Bodenheimer's captivity predated the advent of the extermination camps, his experiences at Buchenwald were both horrific and traumatic. In 1939 he was granted a visa and came to the United States.

Besides his rabbinical duties, Rabbi Bodenheimer had many other interests and talents. He served as chaplain to the Bloomfield Fire Department, and was qualified to repair Torah scrolls. Rabbi Bodenheimer received both the Humanitarian of the Year Award in 1981 from B'nai Brith, and the Shofar Award from the Boy Scouts of America in 1981.