Buetthard

General information: First Jewish presence: 1588; peak Jewish population: 63 in 1867; Jewish population in 1933: 10
Summary: This community built a synagogue at 3 Marktplatz in 1812. Local Jews also operated a community center which housed a school, a mikveh and apartments. In cooperation with the community of nearby Allersheim, the Jews of Buetthard employed a teacher/chazzan. Burials were conducted at the Allersheim cemetery. The community was officially dissolved in October of 1937, when only five Jews remained in Buetthard, all of whom were over 65. The synagogue was sold, and its ritual objects were transferred to Munich in December 1937. On Pogrom Night, SA and SS men from Ochsenfurt and the surrounding areas, aided by several local residents, broke into the homes of two Jewish families, destroyed their furniture and vandalized the interior of the defunct synagogue. At least one Jew was arrested. Between 1937 and 1939, five Buetthard Jews emigrated and three moved to other German cities. The two Jews who still lived in the town in September of 1942 were deported to Theresienstadt via Wuerzburg; both survived the war and immigrated to the United States. At least nine Buetthard Jews perished in the Shoah. The synagogue building was later converted into an apartment building. A memorial plaque was unveiled inside the town hall.
Author / Sources: Heidemarie Wawrzyn
Sources: AJ, DJGB, EJL, PK-BAV, SIA, SZJLB
Located in: bavaria