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Once in Jerusalem, the Arons contacted their old friend Rabbi Cohen. The Rabbi remembered his promise and found them an apartment at a low fixed rate. Paul Aron may have fulfilled a dream by moving to Jerusalem, but he had lost his business and the comfortable life that he had built in Frankfurt. The cost of leaving Germany had drained his financial resources. Paul Aron was forced to rely on his children to support him. In his final years, he also received some money as restitution from the German government.

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Paul and Karoline Aron
1946
Jerusalem

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After the war, Paul Aron sent for the objects in his collection that had been left in Zurich. Before the war, these pieces had been prized for their ritual purposes and their aesthetic appearance. Now, they held even more value, as remnants of Jewish family life in Germany.

One piece that is particularly significant in this regard is a small silver tower made to store the spices for the Havdalah ceremony. Havdalah marks the end of Shabbat and the return to secular life. During the ceremony, a blessing is recited over the spices and they are passed around to be smelled by everyone present. The pleasant aroma is intended to offer consolation over the departure of Shabbat.

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Eschenheimer Spice Tower (Silver) 19th century
Date not available
Frankfurt, Germany

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Paul Aron's spice tower, likely one of many in his collection, was crafted by a local Frankfurt silversmith and is an exact replica of the Eschenheimer Tower in Frankfurt. The spice tower displays the local patriotism of Frankfurt's Jewish community and their willingness to embrace and blend both their Jewish and German identities. While Paul Aron was able to preserve this piece of his heritage and with it, the memory of Frankfurt's Jewish community, the community itself was destroyed.

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Paul Aron passed away in 1957. His legacy, and the legacy of his community, continues to live on through his collection of Judaica - many pieces of which are now housed at the Aron Museum.