Leo Trepp

Leo Trepp (March 4, 1913 – September 2, 2010) was a German-born American rabbi who was the last surviving rabbi who had led a congregation in Nazi Germany during the early days of The Holocaust. in 1936. Trepp recalled having conducted his first seder in 1936 in Oldenburg, when he was a newly ordained rabbi in Nazi Germany, leading the 15 synagogues in the district. He saw that he had a dual role in working "to keep the Jewish community from breaking down, while at the same time give many fellow believers the possibility to emigrate".

After the war

Trepp was a frequent visitor to Mainz, where he was involved in the restoration and revitalization of the Weisenau synagogue. Starting in 1983, Trepp spent 20 years teaching Jewish religion, Jewish mysticism and Talmud to students at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz. He was the author of the books The Complete Book of Jewish Observance, A History of the Jewish Experience and Judaism: Development and Life.

Despite his longstanding efforts at fostering Christian–Jewish reconciliation, Trepp expressed concern that in the hands of nationalists and Islamists that "Anti-Semitism has become acceptable again". Speaking to German youth in 1993, he stated that "You bear no guilt for what your grandparents did. But there is responsibility. Germany must become the leading country in the fight against anti-Semitism."

Trepp was the subject of the 2009 German language documentary film Der Letzte Rabbiner by Christian Walther, which was translated into English and shown as The Last Rabbi. A resident of San Francisco, Rabbi Trepp conducted his 74th, and final, Passover Seder there with his extended family in 2010. Trepp died at age 97 on September 2, 2010, in San Francisco.

After his death, Trepp's wife, Gunda Trepp, compiled his notes and published his autobiography, The Last Rabbi.