Buttenhausen

Summary: A mikveh, financed by local rulers, was built in Buttenhausen in 1787, two years after which the community consecrated a cemetery. The synagogue, built in 1796, was renovated and enlarged in 1871/72. We also know that, in 1836, a Jewish school was opened in the village. Although the Jewish population declined steadily after the 1870s, Lehmann Bernheim established a vocational school in Buttenhausen (1903-1923). In 1933, numerous associations were active in the village, and eight pupils attended the school. During the Nazi period, Salomon Loewental served on the local council (until 1939), the only such case in Germany. On Pogrom Night, an attempt to burn the synagogue was obstructed by the mayor and the fire department; the following day, SA men set fire to the synagogue after detaining the mayor and forbidding the fire department from intervening. Eight Jews were arrested, but released as a result of the mayor’s intervention. Forty-five Buttenhausen Jews left the village, 18 died and four committed suicide. In 1940/41, Jews from other towns and villages were moved to Buttenhausen, increasing the population to 109, all of whom were deported in 1941/42. At least 42 Buttenhausen Jews perished in the Shoah. Several monuments commemorate the Buttenhausen Jews, and the former Bernheim school building houses a small Jewish museum (1994).

Author / Sources: Esther Sarah Evans
Sources: AJ, EJL, PK-BW