Guttentag
General information: First Jewish presence: 1742; peak Jewish population: 280 in 1861; Jewish population in 1933: 38
Summary:
The earliest available record of a Jewish settlement in
Guttentag is dated 1742. The town’s Jewish population
grew steadily, from 120 in 1787 to a peak of 280 in 1861.
Most local Jews earned their livings through the petty trades,
crafts or agriculture; many left Guttentag as a result of the
economic decline of the late 19th century.
Built in 1781, the community’s wooden synagogue was
destroyed during the fire of 1846. A new house of worship
and a mikveh were consecrated in Guttentag in 1848 and
1858, respectively. Other Jewish institutions included a
Jewish hospital (founded in the 1820s), a Jewish orphanage
(1866) and a Jewish elementary school—it housed two
classrooms—(1863 or 1868).
In 1933, 38 Jews resided in Guttentag; six children
received religious instruction. Active in the community
were a rabbi (from Gross-Strehlitz), a chazzan and a Jewish
women’s association, the last of which conducted welfare
work. We also know that the community maintained a
cemetery that year.
Although the anti-Jewish boycott was announced on
April 1, 1933, it was not until July 1937, that the Nazis
enforced their race laws in Guttentag, triggering anti-Jewish
riots. Later, on Pogrom Night (November 1938), rioters
incinerated the synagogue and damaged a Jewish-owned
store in the marketplace.
In 1939, Guttentag was home to only 14 Jews, most of
whom were deported. At least 16 Guttentag Jews perished
in the Shoah.
Author / Sources: Heidemarie Wawrzyn
Sources: EJL, FJG, LJG, YV
www.sztetl.org.pl/de/city/dobrodzien/
Sources: EJL, FJG, LJG, YV
www.sztetl.org.pl/de/city/dobrodzien/
Located in: silesia