Kettschau Charles & Marta ; Son: Kurt

Kettschau, Marthe Kettschau, Charles Kettschau, Kurt File 537 In late 1938, after Kristallnacht, the Hepner family moved from Germany to Paris. In June 1940, after the fall of France, the family fled Paris and settled in Bandol (Var), on the Mediterranean coast. In May 1941, Jakob Hepner and his son Elie were arrested and were ordered to move to Collobrières, in the same département, where they lived under strict police surveillance. Under these circumstances, the rest of the family fled Bandol to join them; they also found a hiding place. In Collobrières, Hepner was on good terms with the gendarmes who monitored his movements. He became friendly with Charles Kettschau, a German who had obtained French citizenship before the war. Kettschau, foreman of the local coalmine, provided Elie Hepner with a forged labor permit, with which Hepner obtained a job in the mine. On August 25, 1942, due to Hepner’s good relationship with the gendarmes, his family discovered that they would all be arrested at six the next morning. At eleven that night, the Hepners left their hiding place and moved in with the Kettschaus, together with two other Jewish refugees whose names appeared on the list of detainees; Martin Strauss and Fritz Hirsch. Strauss and Hirsch asked Kettschau if he would house at least one of them. He replied, “Not just one but all of you.” Thus, Kettschau took in seven Jewish refugees: the Hepners, their children, and Strauss and Hirsch. Kettschau and his wife and son were people of modest means who lived in a small house in the center of the village, with only one bedroom, a guest room, and a kitchen. They did not have a garden and lived solely on rationed goods. They gave their bed to Mme Hepner and her daughters, and they and everyone else slept on the floor, all in one room. For five months, the Kettschaus shared their home and scanty food supplies with the Jewish refugees. One day, the police appeared at the Kettschau home looking for hidden Jews.Kettschau protested indignantly: “I am a German. How can you think of looking for Jews here?” Kurt, the Kettschau’s twenty-year-old son, was not home when his parents took in the refugees. When he returned and saw seven strangers packed into one room, he immediately realized that they were Jewish refugees. He told his mother that what she had done was wonderful. Kurt shared all the hardships and hazards of his parents’ rescue operation. With Kettschau’s help, Fritz Hirsch attempted to cross into Switzerland, but he was arrested and deported. The other refugees remained with the Kettschaus until January 1943. Conditions were difficult, and the food was insufficient. Moreover, in the small town of Collobrières, the danger of denunciation was great. Eventually, the Hepners and Martin Strauss fled, with the help of two gendarmes, to the Alpine département of Savoie, where they found refuge until the liberation. After the war, the survivors wanted to compensate their rescuers for their upkeep, but the Kettschaus adamantly refused On October 19, 1971, Yad Vashem recognized Marthe Kettschau, her husband Charles, and their son Kurt as Righteous Among the Nations.