Guben, Germany

There was a medieval Jewish community during the 14th century and in the first half of the 15th century. The community was persecuted during the Black Death disturbances of 1348-49. Jews settled again in Guben in 1650. In 1834, there were 31 Jews in the village. The community set up a synagogue in 1837 and a cemetery in 1839, and formally organized in 1849. During the second half of the 19th century, the Jewish population was more than 200. In 1878 a larger synagogue was consecrated. From 1912 to 1924, a Jew served as the town's mayor. When the Nazis came to power in 1933, there were still about 200 Jews living in Guben. On Kristallnacht (9-10 November 1938), the synagogue was destroyed; Torah scrolls were burned; Jewish businesses were destroyed; and the cemetery was desecrated. Jewish men were maltreated, arrested, and deported to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. By 1939, there were 60 Jews in Guben. Those who did not emigrate were deported to the East. By October 1942, only ten Jews were still registered as living in Guben, probably protected by marriage to non-Jews. Some were deported in 1944. In the same year, 300 Jewish women of Hungarian origin were brought to Guben for forced labor in a local factory.