The Great Synagogue ( pl, Wielka Synagoga w Białymstoku) was a

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

located in

Białystok Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the tenth-largest city in Poland, second in terms of population density, and thirteenth in area. Białystok is located in the Białystok Up ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, which was built between 1909-1913 and designed by Szlojme Rabinowicz. The synagogue was burnt down by Germans on June 27, 1941, with an estimated number of 2,000 Jews inside.

History

The synagogue was located on Suraska Street. Construction began in 1909, and the building was completed in 1913. It was designed by Szlojme (Shlomo) Jakow Rabinowicz and included three

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

style domes: a large one with a ten-meter spire over the main hall with two smaller ones flanking it over the side halls. On the morning of June 27, 1941,

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

troops from

Police Battalion 309 The Police Battalion 309 (''Polizeibattalion 309'') was a formation of the Order Police (uniformed police) during the Nazi era. During Operation Barbarossa, it was subordinated to the German Army (Wehrmacht), German Army's 221st Security Division ...

of the

Ordnungspolizei The ''Ordnungspolizei'' (), abbreviated ''Orpo'', meaning "Order Police", were the uniformed police force in Nazi Germany from 1936 to 1945. The Orpo organisation was absorbed into the Nazi monopoly on power after regional police jurisdiction w ...

surrounded the town square by the Great Synagogue and forced residents from their homes into the street. Some were shoved up against building walls and shot dead. Others, some 2,000 men, women and children, were locked in the synagogue, which was then set on fire; there they

burned to death Death by burning (also known as immolation) is an execution and murder method involving combustion or exposure to extreme heat. It has a long history as a form of public capital punishment, and many societies have employed it as a punishment f ...

. The Nazi onslaught continued with the grenading of numerous homes and further shootings. As the flames from the synagogue spread and merged with the grenade fires, the entire square was engulfed. On that day, some 3,000 Jews lost their lives. Raiha, Evelyn
''The Holocaust''
/ref> (Archive from Geocities)

Monument

A reconstruction of the destroyed dome and a

memorial plaque A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other ...

were dedicated in August 1995. The plaque reads: "Our splendid sanctuary fell victim to the flames on June 27, 1941. 2000 Jews were burnt alive in it by the German Nazi murderers."

References

*
Rose Markus Schachner
' The Museum of Family History *

'' Zchor *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Great Synagogue (Bialystok) Former synagogues in Poland Jews and Judaism in Białystok Synagogues in Poland destroyed by Nazi Germany Buildings and structures in Białystok Synagogue buildings with domes Synagogues completed in 1913 Jewish organizations established in 1913 Byzantine Revival synagogues