Gehrden-Ronnenberg
General information: First presence: 18th century; peak Jew. pop.: 110 - 1861 (Gehr.), 36 - 1925 (Ronnenb.); Jewish population 1933: 15 - Gehrden, approx. 25 - Ronnenberg
Summary: The Jews of Gehrden-Ronnenberg were predominantly
traders (of cattle, leather, wool, textiles and grain) and
butchers.
Beginning in the mid-1700s, the Gehrden community
conducted burials on the outskirts of town (on Koetherberge);
the Ronnenberg community, however, maintained its
own cemetery. In Gehrden, the community established
a synagogue and a school in the early 19th century. Later,
in 1850, a new house of worship—the site also included a
mikveh, a school and an apartment for a teacher who served as
shochet and chazzan—was erected on Steinweg; non-Jewish
residents of Gehrden attended the dedication ceremony.
Gehrden’s synagogue closed in or around 1920 because
community membership was dwindling. The school building
was sold and converted into a store; and in 1930, the former
synagogue was converted into a residential building. According to records, a Jewish woman served on the local
board of the Red Cross in the early 1930s.
Jewish property was damaged on Pogrom Night, and
the former synagogue was vandalized, its windows broken.
Jewish men were arrested, after which many left town. By
1939, in fact, only eight Jews lived in Gehrden and one in
Ronnenberg.
Restored in 1953, the cemetery has since been repeatedly
desecrated. The synagogue building was pulled down in
1979; a memorial plaque was affixed to the new building
erected in its place.
At least 17 Jews from Gehrden and 15 from Ronnenberg
died in the Shoah.
Photo: The side entrance to the synagogue of Gehrden in the 1930s. Courtesy of: District Archive in Hanover.
Author / Sources: Heike Zaun Goshen
Sources: AH, HU, JG NB1, SIA
Sources: AH, HU, JG NB1, SIA
Located in: lower-saxony