Ruchheim (City of Ludwigshafen)
General information: First Jewish presence: 17th century; peak Jewish population: 160 in 1852 (15% of the total population); Jewish population in 1933: 12
Summary: During the 17th century, Ruchheim Jews were members of
the Jewish community in nearby Fussgoenheim, which is
where Ruchheim’s modern Jewish community, founded in
1859, buried its dead.
Ruchheim was home to a synagogue or a prayer room in the
18th century. The community maintained a synagogue, located in
a private residence, in the mid-19th century, after which, in 1862,
a new synagogue was inaugurated at 52 Fussgoenheimer Strasse;
this synagogue soon fell into disrepair, and was accordingly
rebuilt in 1881 to accommodate 60 seats for men, 35 for women,
a schoolroom and a teacher’s apartment. We also know that the
community maintained a mikveh and, from 1836 until 1907, a
Jewish public school. Beginning in 1907, schoolchildren studied
religion with a teacher from Ludwigshafen. In Ruchheim, a
community official performed the duties of chazzan and shochet.
In 1933, 12 Jews lived in Ruchheim. Nevertheless, the
community held on to its synagogue even after it could no
longer gather 10 men for a minyan. On Pogrom Night, axewielding
rioters destroyed the interior of the synagogue;
ritual objects and books were taken outside and burned.
Most Jews managed to leave Ruchheim before the
deportations. The village’s last Jews, a married couple named
Jakob and Klara Leva, were deported to Gurs on October
22, 1940. At least 24 Ruchheim Jews perished in the Shoah.
The synagogue was later turned into a Protestant
community center. A commemorative plaque was unveiled
there in 1985; in 2008, several memorial stumbling stones
were affixed to the ground.
Author / Sources: Esther Sarah Evans
Sources: AJ, EJL
Sources: AJ, EJL
Located in: rhineland-palatinate