Alternate names: BUCHEN [GER], BUCHEN IN ODENWALD. 17 places in Germany are named Buchen. This Buchen is at 49°31′18″N 9°19′24″E is a town in Neckar-Odenwald district, in the Odenwald low mountain range, 23 km NE of Mosbach. Jewish population: 150 (in 1862), 34 (in 1933). Jewish Cemetery
On the road to Waldhausen (Parcel 10385 " "next parcel 10386-88" Jews field "area 140.69 a), the cemetery may have been created in the late Middle Ages (1500/1600). This cemetery served up to 30 Jewish communities between Strümpfelbrunn (Waldbrunn) and Angel Türn (Boxberg) as a burial site (1932 for a ten municipalities.) Estimates of the number of graves are from 2000 to 4000 with documentation of the cemetery in 2000 as 1,573 graves counted (oldest remaining stone from 1628) Special memorial available: cemetery hall in 1888 (1984) with hearse (1910) and a (damaged) wooden support, a war memorial for the Jewish victims of World War II, and a stone bench monument from the brothers, Albert and Sigmund Rothschild of Eberstadt, for their 1st World War fallen brother Simon, amd a memorial plaque for the "victims of fascism" with the name of a part of the Kleineicholzheim perished Jews. [Feb 2013]
- Encyclopedia of Jewish Life (2001), p. 212: "Buchen".
- Pinkas HaKehilot, Germany, Vol. 2 (1986), p. 279: "Buchen"
- JewishGen GerSIG
BUCHEN: 74722 also incorporating BÖDIGHEIM (BOEDIGHEIM) Baden-Württemberg (Gerz)
COMMUNITY: Buchen, region Neckar-Odenwaldkreis.
LOCATION OF CEMETERY: alongside the road to Waldhausen . The large Bödigheim cemetery was known as "Judenkirchhof" adjoining the "Judenacker".
IN USE: Possibly from the 15th/16th century until 1939 (oldest gravestone found dated 1628).
NUMBER OF GRAVESTONES: 1573 during documentation in 2000. (Originally numbering perhaps up to 4000 graves (Hahn 1988 , pages 59 and 380; Germania Judaica II/1, page 90).
DOCUMENTATION:
- 1988 photograph of all gravestones and cemetery layout by Zentralarchiv.
- Cemetery documentation in conjunction with these photographs (only in respect of gravestones 1.098-1.201) by Zentralarchiv.
- 2000 full cemetery documentation in conjunction with these photographs (from a selection of 110 gravestone inscriptions by Emily Link by order of the State Office for Historic Monuments and the City of Buchen.
- Numerous photographs of gravestones and general cemetery views in Alemannia Judaica.
- More photographs at the Leo Baeck Institute: Bödigheim; Jewish community collection; Storage-Location: Second floor, 2nd floor left microfilm cabinet Photos; article; reports; correspondence. MF 322: Pictures of graves in Bödigheim with Hebrew inscriptions.; Languages: German, Hebrew; Donors: Wertheimer, 1958; Period covered (or date of publication): 1630-1937; Size of the collection: 26 items. Accession Number(s): AR 418, MF 322. Wertheimer, Wueli: Judenfriedhof im Odenwald.- In: Israelitisches Gemeindeblatt Mannheim 9 (1931), Nr. Source: AE [sic].
- Inscription of oldest gravestone dated 1753 (R. Salomo Wolf) by Löwenstein 1889.
- History by Wertheimer 1931 , pages 13-14.
- History by Bödigheim 1968.
- History by Hundsnurscher/Taddey 1968, pages 47-48 figure #20, 21: photograph of war memorial.
- History by Theobald 1984, pages 77-78 and page 91 photograph with overall view of cemetery.
- History by Strassler 2007.
- The Bödigheim cemetery is thought to have been used at one time by as many as 30 Jewish communities holding possibly up to 4000 graves. It served an area located between Strümpfelbrunn (Waldbrunn) and Angeltürn (Boxberg) and was still used by ten Jewish communities in 1932.
- There is a memorial to the Fallen Jewish soldiers of WW1 from Angeltürn, Bödigheim, Buchen, Eberstadt, Grosseicholzheim, Hainstadt, Kleineicholzheim and Strümpfelbrunn. In addition there is a plaque in memory of the “Victims of Fascism” carrying the names of some of the murdered Jewish inhabitants from Kleineicholzheim.
SOURCES: Alemannia Judaica and University of Heidelberg.
[Researched and translated from German January 2008]