Ketsch

Summary: Although a prayer room existed in Ketsch in 1750, it was abandoned in or around 1800, when only two Jewish families lived in the town. In 1824, a synagogue was established in a private residence on Hockenheimer Strasse. The community was always small—the synagogue took up only one-fourth of the house—and never maintained any organizations or hired a teacher. Local Jews conducted burials in Wiesloch. In 1932, the community’s only schoolchild studied religion in Schwetzingen. Jews from nearby Bruehl were members of the Ketsch community. Three Jews emigrated from Ketsch; nine relocated within Germany (nearly all of them before 1938). Although the community was dissolved in October 1937, the synagogue’s furniture and ritual objects were nevertheless damaged on Pogrom Night. The structure was also damaged, as were the few remaining Jewish properties. A local Jew was sent to Dachau, where he died in January 1939. In December 1938, the two remaining Jews left Ketsch. We also know that the Jewish council of Baden sold its section of the synagogue building in 1939, after which (on an unspecified date) the structure was pulled down. At least six local Jews died in the Shoah. As of this writing, a memorial has never been erected in Ketsch.

Author / Sources: Heike Zaun Goshen
Sources: AH, AJ, PK-BW