Yaffa Eliach, Holocaust scholar, author and founder of the Shtetl Foundation, tells us, “The synagogue was the house of God and the dwelling place of every Jew. It and the Beit Hamedrash were the places where the Jewish male spent most of his life, from birth to death, making him a virtual guest in his own home.”

The Jews of Chodorow cherished their architectural and spiritual treasure, and some felt it even defined them. Klara Flecker, a former resident of Chodorow, remembers, “The synagogue itself, as an edifice, as a building, was the pride of our town. Wherever you went, when they asked you where you are from, you are from Chodorow. ‘Oh, you have that famous synagogue, now we know who you are!’ ”