Guttstadt

Summary: Guttstadt (present-day Dobre Miasto, Poland) was home to a fairly large Jewish community. The community, founded in 1814, established a cemetery that year; a synagogue—many local townspeople participated in the festive inauguration ceremony—in 1855; and a Jewish school in 1870. The school, located inside the synagogue building, at one point had an enrollment of 80 students. Jews and Christians coexisted peacefully in Guttstadt, with four Jews serving on the city council. The Jewish population dwindled swiftly after the Nazis rose to power; by 1928, only 48 Jews lived in the town. On Pogrom Night, the synagogue was burned to the ground, after which the ravaged building was torn down. One Jew, presumably married to an ethnic German, lived in Guttstadt in 1942. Little else is known about what happened to the Jews of Guttstadt after Pogrom Night.

Author / Sources: Moshe Finkel
Sources: EJL, LJG