The Great Synagogue in Katowice stood on what is now Adama Mickiewicza Street. This exceptionally impressive building was constructed for the city’s rapidly growing Jewish community, but its history came to an end just as quickly. Just 39 years after its completion, the Germans burnt down the synagogue, and its ruins were soon demolished. Today, a monument, the name of the square and a candelabrum on the other side of the world serve as reminders of Katowice’s eclectic house of prayer.
Katowice needed a larger synagogue
Towards the end of the 19th century, the Jewish community of Katowice (then known as Kattowitz, situated within the German Empire) was growing rapidly. The existing synagogue, dating from 1862, had ceased to be sufficient, despite having undergone significant expansion. In view of this, preparations began for the construction of a much more imposing house of prayer. The main initiator of the entire project was Salomon Wiener, chairman of the Synagogue Community Board. In 1897, a plot of land was therefore purchased from the city on what was then Uferstraße, now Mickiewicza Street. From the outset, the plans envisaged the creation of a larger complex centred on the life of the community. In addition to the synagogue, it included, amongst other things, an administrative building with a meeting room, a mikveh, staff accommodation, a ritual poultry slaughterhouse and a matzo bakery.
The Great Synagogue in Katowice
The design was selected from among three proposals. It was drawn up by Max Grünfeld of the firm Ignatz Grünfeld Baugeschäft. His brother Hugo Grünfeld also appears in the documentation, which is why some studies attribute the design to both brothers. The foundation stone was laid in 1896, whilst the entire building was completed in 1900. The result was truly impressive. The eclectic synagogue combined Neo-Gothic, Neo-Renaissance and Moorish motifs. The brick façades were complemented by stone elements and ornamentation, huge windows with tracery and soaring turrets. A massive ribbed dome with a lantern rose above the central prayer hall. It was this dome that towered over the neighbourhood and served as the building’s most recognisable feature. Inside, there were over 1,100 seats for worshippers. According to the Virtual Shtetl, the synagogue could accommodate 670 men and 514 women, making a total of 1,184 people.
The Great Synagogue in Katowice: the opening
The Great Synagogue was officially opened on 12 September 1900, on the festival of Rosh Hashanah. It became the main place of worship for Katowice’s Reform Jews and an important centre of life for the local community. Katowice’s importance also grew for the burgeoning national movement striving to establish its own state in Palestine. In 1901, the city hosted some of the meetings associated with the World Zionist Congress, during which, amongst other things, the idea of a legally guaranteed national home for the Jewish people was discussed. The Great Synagogue thus played a part in the history of Jewish political, religious and social life in Upper Silesia.
The Silesian plebiscite and the fate of Katowice
When the Great Synagogue was being built, Katowice was known as Kattowitz and belonged to the German Empire. After the First World War, however, everything changed completely. Although in the 1921 plebiscite the majority of voters favoured the city remaining within German borders, the final decision on the partition of Upper Silesia meant that Katowice ended up on the Polish side and was incorporated into the Second Polish Republic in 1922. Despite this, the Jewish community remained strongly attached to German culture, and the Jewish community actively developed religious, social and educational institutions. In 1937–1938, a community centre housing the organisations’ offices and cultural facilities was built right next to the synagogue. The complex, located on what is now Mickiewicza Street, was a thriving centre that met all the community’s needs.
The Great Synagogue in Katowice in September 1939
German troops entered Katowice on 4 September 1939. The Great Synagogue almost immediately became one of the occupiers’ main targets and was set alight a few days later. Sources differ as to the exact date. Sources from Katowice indicate 4 September, whilst the Virtual Shtetl and some studies cite 8 September. After the fire, the Germans searched the ruins for valuables. In the cellars, they found, amongst other things, partially burnt Torah scrolls. Soon afterwards, the Jewish community was ordered to demolish the remains of the synagogue at its own expense. In February 1940, the German authorities took steps to remove the synagogue from town plans and maps as well – the aim was to erase all traces of the existence of a Jewish house of prayer at that location. Its destruction formed part of the occupying powers’ systematic persecution and eradication of Jewish heritage. In early 1940, the Jews of Katowice were deported to the ghettos in Sosnowiec and Będzin, as well as to forced-labour camps. Many were later murdered at Auschwitz.
Synagogue Square in Katowice
After the war, proposals were put forward to rebuild the Great Synagogue, but none came to fruition. However, the community’s administrative building from the former complex on Mickiewicza Street has survived; it was rebuilt after 1945 and served various purposes over the years, and now houses a health centre. The building of the former mikveh has also survived. The empty space where the synagogue once stood is now known as Synagogue Square. This name was formally adopted by a resolution of the Katowice City Council on 8 October 1990. In July 1988, a monument was erected here in memory of the Jewish inhabitants of Katowice murdered by the German occupiers between 1939 and 1945. Although no part of the Great Synagogue itself has survived, something has endured.
The Katowice menorah in Los Angeles
During the Second World War, a 19th-century Hanukkah menorah was hidden underground, thereby escaping destruction and avoiding the fate of the rest of the building’s furnishings. According to a memoir published in the JewishGen archive, it was found and purchased in 1960 in Vilnius from an antiques dealer by Rabbi Tsnin. He paid $20,000 for it. The candelabrum was then taken to his Chabad community on the US West Coast. Today, it is kept and displayed at Los Angeles City Hall during Hanukkah.
Source: katowice.eu, sztetl.org.pl
See also:Katowice|History | Religious architecture|Architecture in Poland|whiteMAD on Instagram
