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| Aachen,
Germany: Aachen is a German city on the border with Belgium. The
Jewish community here dates to the early 9th century. This synagogue
was built in 1862 on what was then Promenadenstrasse. On the portal
was a Biblical inscription, “For my house shall be called a house of
prayer for all peoples.” It was destroyed on Kristallnacht and torn
down. There is now a new synagogue on the site for the small Jewish
community of Aachen and a memorial plaque for the old synagogue. The
street has been re-named. |
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| Amsterdam,
Netherlands: This is the synagogue that was built on
Linnaeusstraat. The architect was Jacob Baars who was Jewish. It was
designed for 300 families. The contractors and workers were Jewish.
The style of the building was local with decorative brickwork. The
building was looted during WWII. There were no services held after
1956 and the building was demolished in 1962. The copper grillwork and
stained glass were sent to Ramat Gan in Israel. |
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| Baden-Baden,
Germany: Although Jews lived in Baden-Baden as early as the 16th
century, the community was not organized until1890. The synagogue was
built in 1897-1898. On November 10, 1938, as part of the Kristallnacht
destruction, Jewish men of the city were rounded up and marched to the
synagogue where they were forced to remove their hats, enter and
listen to anti-Semitic lectures by SS men. Jewish men were forced to
read Mein Kampf from the podium and to sing the Nazi anthem. They were
beaten, loaded into trucks and taken to Dachau. The mob set fire to
the synagogue and the stone remains were used to pave a road. |
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| Belz, Ukraine:
Belz is a small town currently in Western Ukraine which had a
large Hasidic community. This is their synagogue and study center,
opened in 1843. The Jewish community in Belz dates from the 14th
century. In 1665 the Jews of Belz were given equal rights and duties
of citizenship. Before World War l there were 6,100 inhabitants in
Belz - more than half were Jewish. In late 1939, the Nazis invaded
Belz and set about destroying the synagogue. Fire and dynamite were
unsuccessful and they finally conscripted Jewish men to take apart the
three-foot walls brick by brick. |
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Bielefeld, Germany:
This is the synagogue on Turnerstrasse built in 1905 in Bielefeld, a
town in Westphalia, Germany. It could seat eight hundred people.
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| Bochum,
Germany: Bochum is a city in the
Rhine-Westphalia region of Germany near Hanover. Jews were first
recorded living in Bochum in 1349. In 1933 there were 1152 Jews
supporting two synagogues, a cheder, a Hebrew School, eight benevolent
societies and cultural organizations. One synagogue catered to Polish
Jews living in Bochum who were expelled in October 1938. On November
9, 1938, the main synagogue was set on fire and allowed to burn to the
ground. Bochum, along with neighboring Herne and Rechkinghausen, has
seen an influx of Jews from the former Soviet Republics. These Jews
erected a new synagogue in 1955. |
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Bratislava, Slovakia:
This is one of the Reform synagogues of Bratislava, built 1893-1895 to
the designs of Dezso Milch. Bratislava was the leading center of
Judaism in Slovakia. In 1927 there were eleven synagogues, six prayer
houses, six schools including a famous Yeshiva and eleven houses of
study for the Orthodox community and two synagogues and two schools
for the Reformists. The first record of Jews is from 1251 and the
first synagogue of Bratislava dates to 1335. This synagogue survived
the Nazis but was torn down by the Communists to make way for a
highway. A plaque has been erected along with a monument to the
murdered Jews. |
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Breslau
(Wroclaw), Poland: The Reform Temple built
1875-1872 was vandalized on Kristallnacht, November 9-10,1938 and
demolished. The synagogue was designed by architect Edwin Oppler. The
first record of Jews in Wroclaw is a tombstone from 1203. Over half of
the post WWl Jewish population of 23,000 had emigrated by 1941 when
the remaining Jews were deported, group by group, to concentration
camps. Deportations ended in 1943 and few Jews remain in the 21st
century.
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| Bruchsal,
Germany: Jews are first
mentioned in Bruchsal in 1288. This synagogue was built in 1881 on
Freidrichstrasse 78. It was restored in 1923 and destroyed during
Kristallnacht, November 9-10, 1938. At that time, the Jewish
population was declining from its 1885 high of 750 people, or 6% of
the total population. The last Jews of Bruchsal were deported to Gurs
concentration camp in October 1940. The ruined synagogue was torn down
in 1941. The site is now home to a firehouse and memorial plaque. |
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| Chernivtsi
(Czernowitz), Ukraine: In the
style of the Berlin Oranienburgerstrasse synagogue – a domed Moorish
Revival synagogue built in 1873. Designed by architect Julian
Zachariewicz, the synagogue was in Czernowitz, the largest city of
Northern Bukovina, Austria-Hungary when it was built. |
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Danzig, Germany (Gdansk,
Poland): This synagogue was completed in
1887 as a Reform synagogue. It held over 2000 people for services. The
entire building had electric heating and lighting which was very rare
at the time. It was financed by five reform congregations and built by
Ende and Boeckman from Berlin. The torah scrolls of the Old Synagogue
and two other congregations were moved to this synagogue and the
Eternal Light lit on September 15, 1887. Attendees to the opening
ceremonies included the city council, rabbis and congregants. This
synagogue was a center for Reform Judaism housing a museum and many
concerts and lectures. In August 1938, Nazi sympathizers invaded the
synagogue and trampled the torahs scrolls prompting the leaders to
ship the archives to Jerusalem, the library to Vilnius and the museum
to the United States. The American Joint Distribution Committee
purchased the ritual collection which was sent to the Jewish
Theological Seminary of America. The organs were sold to Krakow,
candlesticks to Warsaw and benches to Nowy Port. The last service was
held on April 15, 1939. The building was sold to the senate of Danzig
when the congregation could no longer afford to keep it due to the
restrictions put on Jews. The Nazi dominated government hung a banner
on the building: “Come, lovely May, and free us from the Jews.” On May
2, 1939 the building was demolished. The site remains vacant. |
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Essen, Germany:
This synagogue is on Steelerstrasse and was finished in 1914. Isaac
Hirschland, a prominent banker, secured government approval for a
synagogue on this prominent corner. The Jewish community sponsored a
design competition in 1908 that was won by Edmund Korner. Korner’s
design received critical acclaim for being well adapted to a difficult
site. On Kristallnacht, November 9-10, 1938, the interior and part of
the building were destroyed. The building proved too solid to totally
demolish. Parts were later sent to New York City where the Habonim
Synagogue has built a memorial around the remnants. The partial shell
was used as an industrial museum until a fire in 1979 when the
remaining Jews successfully lobbied to turn the building into a
memorial to the Jews slaughtered during the Nazi regime. |
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Katowice, Poland: Great Synagogue. Built in 1900 and
inaugurated on October 12, 1900. The synagogue was designed by Ignatz
Grunfeld. The main chamber held 1120 people for worship. It hosted the
World Zionist Congress in 1901. After the invasion of Poland, German
troops set fire to the synagogue on September 4, 1939. Today there is
a square on the site named Synagogue Square. In 1988 a small monument
was erected to pay tribute to the Jews who died during World War ll. |
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Königsberg, Germany (Kaliningrad, Russia):
There were six synagogues here in 1938. All were destroyed during
Kristallnacht, November 1938. This was the Orthodox synagogue
completed in 1896. The first synagogue in Königsberg
was a chapel built in 1680 outside of city jurisdiction. In 1704 the
Jews formed a congregation and acquired a cemetery. In 1722 laws were
passed defining their existence. Synagogues were built and destroyed
in the 1700’s and 1800’s. The community had a constitution written in
1811 that was revised several times. |
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