Fraustadt, Germany

FRAUSTADT (Polish Wschowa) Posen—West Prussia, Germany, today Poland. At the end of the 16th century, there was a Jewish community whose members lived in a designated section of the Old Town. They were only allowed to engage in pawnbroking and financial transactions. Until the beginning of the 18th century, there were frequent expulsions. The Jewish population grew from 18 families in 1724 to a peak of 648 individuals in 1817 (10% of the total). A cemetery was established in 1759. A synagogue built in 1798 burned down in 1801 and was replaced by a new building only in 1885. In that year, the community numbered 318. On the eve of the Nazi assumption of power in 1933, 125 Jews were living in Fraustadt They suffered considerably from the particularly harsh boycott in the border area. On Kristallnacht (9-10 November 1938), the synagogue was burned down and several Jewish businesses were destroyed. A wave of emigration ensued and in May 1939, only 44 Jews remained. Those who failed to emigrate were no longer allowed to leave the town from October 1941 and in 1942 they were deported to the east and perished. In November 1942, just one Jew was still living in Fraustadt, probably protected by marriage to a non-Jewish partner.