Rauner, Aron

Aron Rauner was born July 9, 1885 in Merzig, near the German border with France and Luxembourg. He was the son of the baker Isaac Rauner and his wife Miriam née Schnerb and had an older sister, Hedwig. After training in business and accounting he worked in his father's wholesale business that sold flour and feed. A 1913 automobile accident and its subsequent difficult recovery made him unfit for service in World War I until 1916, when was he assigned to a position in the field artillery in the Trier/ Mosel area. After completing his military training he was wounded in April 1917. No longer able to participate in the fighting due to his medical condition, he was sent to Romania as part of Field Marshall August von Mackensen's staff. For his war service Aron Rauner received an honorary cross ( Ehrenkreuz ) second class and a commendation for having been wounded in the fighting.

Following the war Aron Rauner again joined his father's business, eventually taking over the branch in Trier. To the wholesale business in sugar products he added a special department for bakery and pastry markets, taking over as general representative for various related commercial machinery businesses. Prominent among these was Rowenta, who produced commercial coffee machines, ovens and freezers for bakeries and related operations. Later he became involved with the import of raw materials, including chocolate and sugar products. In 1928 he gave up his other enterprises in order to focus his business on the representation of the various machinery firms, with a staff of fifteen people in the greater Saar region. Due to his success, his family – which included his wife Hedwig (née Kahn), who he had married in 1922 and with whom he had four children (Edgar, Ludwig, Gertrud and Wolfgang) – led a comfortable life in Trier. They resided in a 6-room apartment and had a maid; his eldest son attended Gymnasium . Prior to giving up his participation in the import of chocolates and confections in 1928, Aron Rauner had also owned several delivery trucks and cars and employed several drivers.

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