Rabbi from Minneapolis on the trail of his ancestors in the Kraichgau

Moving moment

David Locketz, Rabbi of Minneapolis, USA, visits the graves of his ancestors. He now stopped at the cemetery in Kraichtal-Oberöwisheim, where his great-great-great-grandfather is buried.

Guest in Kraichtal: Rabbi David Locketz (left) with Karl-Heinz Glaser from the local history and museum association and Mayor Tobias Borho.

Photo: Karl-Heinz Glaser

Rabbi David Locketz and his wife Debbie made the journey from Minneapolis in the USA to visit the graves of their ancestors in Germany. The Jewish cemetery near Oberöwisheim formed the prelude. Jakob Aron Fleischer, a Jew from Mühlbach, was buried there in January 1782 – he was David’s great-great-great-great-grandfather.

Kraichtal’s mayor Tobias Borho (SPD) and Karl-Heinz Glaser, chairman of the Kraichtal local history and museum association, welcomed the couple in Oberöwisheim. They quickly found the grave in the steep cemetery. A moving moment of silent prayer for David Locketz.

Jewish cemetery in Oberöwisheim one of the oldest in the Kraichgau

The Oberöwisheim Jewish cemetery, founded in 1620, is one of the oldest and largest in the Kraichgau. The local lords of Oberöwisheim leased the stony slope to the Jews, who had previously had to laboriously bring their deceased to Worms. Not only was an annual interest to be paid, but also a fee for each burial site.

In contrast to Menzingen or Münzesheim, there was never a Jewish community in Oberöwisheim itself. The cemetery is now a memorial and memorial, especially since it was not only desecrated in the Third Reich, as Alfons Oßfeld explained.

On the fringes of the visit, a commemorative plaque from the city and the local history and museum association on the history of the cemetery was agreed. The next public access is expected to be on the European Day of Jewish Culture on September 5th.