Gross-Gerau

Summary: Although a 17th-century synagogue was destroyed in Gross- Gerau during the Thirty Years’ War, it was rebuilt at some point after 1660. By the early 18th century, 60 Jews lived in Gross-Gerau. In 1795, after decades during which the guilds tried to ban Jews from the area, the authorities officially permitted Jews to live and work in the town. Beginning in or around the year 1795, Jewish names appear on tax records. The community established a cemetery on Burggraben in 1600; another synagogue—on community member Aron’s property on Galgenstrasse—in 1741; a new cemetery on Gernsheimer Strasse in 1841; a new prayer hall on Frankfurter Strasse in 1892; and a mikveh, located inside the prayer hall building, in 1894. In 1934, ritual objects were destroyed in the synagogue during a nighttime raid; in 1936, the cemetery was closed, after which the land was cleared and the remains of those buried there were moved to a new location. That same year, services were discontinued at the synagogue. Gustav Hirsch, the congregation’s last chairman, served the community until 1937; Karl Hartogsohn, the last teacher, left Gross-Gerau on January 9, 1936. The synagogue was destroyed on Pogrom Night, as were the Torah scrolls and ritual objects from neighboring communities that had been stored there before Pogrom Night. (Torah scrolls from the Gross-Gerau synagogue had been hidden in private homes.) Jewish-owned homes and the Tahara house in the cemetery were destroyed; all Jewish men were arrested and, later, sent to Buchenwald. Approximately 134 Jews immigrated to the United States, Palestine and France; others relocated in Germany. Four Jews died in Gross-Gerau, and four were deported in 1939. Three memorial plaques were later unveiled in Gross- Gerau: one in 1945, another at the former synagogue site and yet another at the municipality building.

Author / Sources: Swetlana Frank
Sources: AJ, DJGH, EJL, FJG, LJG, SIA, SIH