Hannover's main synagogue stood in Calenberger-Neustadt. The site is just a block from the basilica where we sometimes go to Spanish-language Mass. Catholics and Jews were neighbors in this part of the city for a long time. In 1588, in the midst of the Reformation, both Catholics and Jews were forced to live outside the city walls. This is the neighborhood they formed. And here is the synagogue:
It was burned by the Nazis and their supporters in 1938.
I had heard the story and seen the photos, but had never actually seen the place. Here is what I found:
No wonder I'd missed it before. On the site where the temple once stood is a small stone wall, locked up behind a metal gate. An outline of the synagogue is engraved on the wall with text written in Hebrew. And that's it.
Which brings me back to the question of, how do you memorialize shameful and tragic events? What's the right way to honor a dark past? Unlike the stumbling stones, which are powerful because they are so unavoidable, the site of the synagogue is removed and locked away.
Today there are about 6,000 Jews in Hannover, over a thousand more than in the 1930s. So next I went to find the current synagogue, tucked away in a residential area near the veterinary school.
It looks pretty normal except for the locked metal gates in front. The Jewish school and synagogue I saw in Hamburg had not only gates, but also armed guards standing outside.
Maybe the Hannover memorial is understated and locked up so that it doesn't attract vandalism.
It's amazing to think that Jewish landmarks still need that kind of protection. It seems like bad guys have different targets these days...
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