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1961 errichteter Gedenkstein
Memorial for the murdered Jews
from  Buttenhausen (1961)
1938 Buttenhausen's synagogue is destroyed during the "Reichskristallnacht" ("Crystal Night"), 9th November. Eight Jews from Buttenhausen are presumably taken to the concentration camp in Dachau. Many Jewish residents emigrate. 1938 Buttenhausen's synagogue is destroyed during the "Reichskristallnacht" ("Crystal Night"), 9th November. Eight Jews from Buttenhausen are presumably taken to the concentration camp in Dachau. Many Jewish residents emigrate.
1939 Outbreak of World War II. Following this one of Wuerttemberg's "Jewish nursing homes" is established in Buttenhausen, to which Jews from all over the country are admitted. 1939 Outbreak of World War II. Following this one of Wuerttemberg's "Jewish nursing homes" is established in Buttenhausen, to which Jews from all over the country are admitted.
1941 - 1944 Deportations to the extermination camps of the East. 1941 - 1944 Deportations to the extermination camps of the East.
1945 On 25th and 26th April Buttenhausen is occupied by American and then French troops. 1945 On 25th and 26th April Buttenhausen is occupied by American and then French troops.
 

The end of the Jewish community

Anti-Semitism and racial hatred created the end of Christians and Jews living together in Buttenhausen after the National Socialists came to power in Germany. Among the Nazis' professed objectives was the expulsion of Jews, and later their extermination. This radical anti-Semitism is a modern phenomenon. Anti-Semitic parties were founded on several occasions throughout the 19th century. However, they had never attained a decisive influence. Yet the party that had now come to power was the first one that had the opportunity to turn their anti-Jewish agenda into reality.

Increasing repression

The consequences were soon felt in Buttenhausen. The distance between Jews and Christians in the village grew. It had become dangerous to keep in contact with the Jews. Despite this, Salomon Loewenthal, a respected and wealthy Jewish citizen, was elected into the district council in April 1933. He was a member of the committee until 1935 - a symbol of the mutual respect and the long tradition of living together which had united both religions. Also situated in Buttenhausen was one of the very few Jewish schools to remain past 1933. This school, though, could only be maintained privately and with the assistance of the Israelite "Oberrat" (superior council) of Wuerttemberg.

The livestock traders in Buttenhausen were also affected by the anti-Semitic legislation. Farmers who traded with Jews were publicly exposed; show trials were intended to prove the Jews' slyness. In 1937 Jews were denied permission to the markets in Muensingen. The so-called "Reichskristallnacht", the night of 9 November 1938, demonstrated a new level of violence which, until then, had been inconceivable. The murder in Paris of the German Ambassador von Rath provided an excuse for anti-Semitic attacks directed by the party leaders. Early in the morning SA-members tried to set fire to the synagogue in Buttenhausen. This attempt failed because of interventions by the fire brigade and by the mayor, Johannes Hirrle. It was soon proven just how calculated the "public anger at the Jews" actually was, when the mayor was restrained by security agents in the town hall while other agents set fire to the synagogue for a second time. Afterwards, as was the case in many towns, people were apprehended in Buttenhausen. Presumably eight persons were taken to the concentration camp in Dachau for some weeks.

Emigration and Deportation

At this point, if not earlier, it had become obvious that to remain in Germany would mean putting oneself in certain danger. More than half of the Jews residing in the area which today is known as Baden-Wuerttemberg emigrated before the deportations had begun. This wave of emigration was the Jewish population's most important reaction to the pressure in National Socialist Germany. Countries of destination for the Jews of Buttenhausen included England, Palestine, the USA, and, above all, neighbouring Switzerland. Emigration was, however, only possible within particular limits, and depended on regulations made by the countries of destination.

After the outbreak of World War II the deportations to death camps began. In 1940, not far from Buttenhausen, in the castle of Grafeneck, the method which would finally be the death of numerous Jews in Auschwitz, Maydanek and other death camps was already being applied. In the name of "Action T4" more than ten thousand disabled persons from all over southern Germany was gassed here. The first group to be transported from Wuerttemberg to Riga departed from Stuttgart on 1 December 1941. Among them were twenty Jews from Buttenhausen. In the meantime Buttenhausen had become an interim stop for Jews from all over Germany. Many were taken to the concentration camp in Theresienstadt in the summer of 1942. At that time many of them were able to guess what was to be expected (upon their arrival there). Some of them evaded deportation by committing suicide. There were even three suicides on the day before the deportation to Theresienstadt, which, with it 60 passengers, was the largest to depart from Buttenhausen.

Altogether more than 130 people are known to have been deported from Buttenhausen, 43 of which came from the town itself. Their names can be found on the monument which was erected in the town's centre in 1961. For Buttenhausen, emigration and deportation meant the end of the Jewish community, as it also did in other towns. Unlike in large cities, in the country community of Buttenhausen, Jewish life did not experience a new beginning after World War II.