The Synagogues of Europe
PAST AND PRESENT
 Poland A to J

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Below you will find a series of postcards that depict various synagogues that currently or once stood in Europe. Most of these photographs have been purchased, taken, or otherwise obtained by those visiting these towns and cities, and they have been subsequently submitted to the Museum to be placed online.  Some of these synagogues might still be extant, i.e. still being used as synagogues, but others lay abandoned and perhaps in a state of disrepair, or are currently being used for other purposes. Some have been restored.

Current town names are used to indicate the location of each synagogue.

The Museum welcomes further submissions, as this exhibition is forever ongoing and evolving. Please include the name of the country, town/city, synagogue (if known), and the month and year the photo was taken.

Please click on the thumbnail photos to see the enlarged versions.
 
 
POLAND    
Andrychów, POLAND (cir 1920s)**  
Bakałarzewo, Poland (1915) PC


Complex of two wooden synagogues.
 
BARCZEWO, POLAND (2007)**  
Bełchatów, POLAND (bef 1939)**  
Biała, POLAND (1926)
 

BIALYSTOK, POLAND (1920)
The Great Synagogue

The Bialystok Great Synagogue was built on Suraska Street, construction beginning in either 1909 or 1909 and ending upon its completion in 1913. The builder of the synagogue was Solomon Rabinovitch of Bialystok. The synagogue was topped by a large dome with a spire of ten meters, with two smaller symmetrical domes atop its two side halls.

The Germans occupied Bialystok in June 1941. They immediately burned down portions of the Jewish neighborhood, including the Great Synagogue. On June 27,1941 the Germans locked 1,500 Jews inside the synagogue and burned them alive, the synagogue being burnt to the ground with all the people inside.

A memorial plaque to the 1500 Jews who were burned alive, as well as the reconstruction of the wrecked Great Synagogue dome, was dedicated in August 1995.
Photo from Wikipedia.

 
BIELSK PODLASKI, POLAND (1930) PC


Exterior and interior of wooden synagogue.


BIELSKO Biała, POLAND (1910)
known as Biała before WWII.
ul. 3 Maja.

From Wikipedia, which states:
"Bielsko Synagogue was a synagogue in Bielsko, Poland. It was built in 1879-1881, designed by Karol Korn. The synagogue was completely destroyed by Nazis on 13 September 1939."

 
BIEZUN, POLAND (bef 1958)*

The synagogue in Bieżuń, Poland was built at the start of the twentieth century and was converted to a movie theater in 1958. Next to the building is the old Rabbi's House and the Beit Midrash.

 

 
Biłgoraj, Poland (1900) PC
 
 

BOBOWA, Poland

photos left: Courtesy of Shmuel ben Eliezer.
photo right: dated 1930.

Boćki, Poland (1936) PC
 

Two synagogues. The first from the left is wooden. Built half XIX century. Both were demolished in 1941.

 
BYDGOSZCZ, POLAND (1920s)
Pod Blankami Street

From Wikipedia which states:

"Bydgoszcz Synagogue was a synagogue in Bydgoszcz, Poland. It was built in 188s, designed by Alfred Muttrey, in the place of old wooden synagogue, on Pod Blankami Street. The synagogue was destroyed during World War II."

 
BYTOM, POLAND

Bytom Synagogue was a synagogue in Beuthen, Germany  (now Bytom, Poland). It was built in1869, in the place of old one. The synagogue was burnt down by Nazis during the Kristallnacht on 9–10 November 1938.

From Wikipedia.

 
Chełm, Poland (1930?) PC
 

Built in the seventeenth century.

 
Chorzów, Poland (1910) PC
 
 
CIECHANOW, POLAND*
The synagogue at Zakroczymska Street under construction at the beginning of the twentieth century. It was destroyed by the Germans during World War II.
 
Cieszanów, Poland

Photos courtesy of Shmuel ben Eliezer.

CZESTOCHOWA, POLAND (bef 1944)
The Old Community Synagogue was at ul. Nadrzeczna 32 in Czestochowa. The exact date of the start of the construction of the Old Synagogue (Stara Synagoga) is unknown. The building was expanded in 1872 and then renovated in 1928-29. It was ransacked by the Germans in September 1939, who then completely destroyed it during the liquidation of the Small Ghetto in 1943.
 
CZESTOCHOWA, POLAND (bef 1940)
The New Synagogue was at the corner of ul. Wilsona and ul. Garabaldiego in Czestochowa. It was completed in 1893 and burned by the Germans on December 25, 1939. In 1955 the Czestochowa City Council decided to build a philharmonic hall on the ruins of the New Synagogue.
 
Dąbie, Poland

Photo courtesy of Shmuel ben Eliezer.
GABIN, POLAND (1916/1930) PC



Wooden synagogue.
Gdańsk, POLAND (beg. 20th c.)
The Great Synagogue

The great synagogue of Danzig (now Gdansk in Poland) destroyed by the Nazis in 1939.





From Wikipedia
.

GLIWICE, POLAND
New Synagogue
Was Gleiwitz, Germany before WWII.

New Synagogue was a synagogue in Gleiwitz, Germany (today Gliwice, Poland). It was built in 1859-1861, designed by Salomon Lubowski and Louis Troplowitz. The synagogue was destroyed by Nazis during Kristallnacht on 9–10 November 1938.

photo right: Wilhelmsplatz Post with a synagogue, cir 1900.

Głogów, Poland (1900)

Church, synagogue and school.
 
GRAJEWO, POLAND (1916) PC
 

 

 
GRYFICE, POLAND (2006) PC
 

Lt: Former place of the synagogue in Gryfice, now training place for fire men. The photo depicts the rear view of the synagogue presented in the original picture.

Rt: Greifenberg in Pommern (Germany) Pomerania. Now West Pomeranian Voivodeship. View of the former synagogue, demolished in 1986. It was located beside the fire station.

Hajnówka, Poland (1935?) PC


Wooden synagogue built in 1930.
 
Inowrocław, Poland

From Wikipedia:

"Inowrocław Synagogue was one of two synagogues... The structure was built in 1908, with funds provided almost entirely by Leopold Levy.  After Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland in 1939, the Nazis attempted to turn it into a bathhouse or swimming pool, but were unable to so they destroyed it. Today, the site of the building is occupied by a statue of Polish literary figure Jan Kasprowicz who was born on the outskirts of the city in the village of Szymborze. The site of the synagogue has recently been renamed Skwer Jan-Paweł II (John-Paul II Square). The other synagogue was in Ulica Rzeźnicka; it is not known when it was demolished but it is believed some time in the 1980s, and a private house now stands there."

 
Janów Sokolski, Poland (1930) PC
 

Wooden synagogue.

Jarosław, Poland

Photo courtesy of Shmuel ben Eliezer.

 
 
Jasło, POLAND
The Great Synagogue
Karol Szajnocha St.


Built in 1905, was an Orthodox Jewish synagogue.. It was destroyed by the Nazis during World War II.



From Wikipedia.
 
JEDWABNE, POLAND (bef 1913)*
The synagogue in Jedwabne was probably built circa 1771. It was destroyed by fire in 1913.

Photo, right: Dated 1919.
 
Józefów (LUBELSKI), POLAND

Synagogue is now used as a local library. The design of a menorah still appears within a synagogue window.

Photo, right: Dated 1939.

*--Photo edited in 2002 by Wydawnictwo Mazowieckie, Przasnysz and prepared by Mariusz Bondarczuk and Artur K.F. Wolosz.

**-- From Wikipedia.

PC - from private collection.

 

 

 

 


 











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