Great Synagogue was the largest synagogue in the city of
Katowice
Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most popul ...
(Kattowitz), in southwestern
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 ...
. It was erected in 1900 in what was then the
German Empire
The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
, and was designed by Max Grünfeld. The synagogue was set on fire by the
Nazis
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 Na ...
in early September 1939 during the
invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...
.
[12.07.2005 Obrona Katowic we Wrześniu 1939 r. S 56.2003. Postanowienie o umorzeniu śledztwa]
IPN. 2005
History
The plans to raise a new synagogue in Katowice arose around 1890, when the
Old Synagogue (Katowice) Old Synagogue can refer to:
* Old Synagogue (Berlin), Germany
* Old Synagogue (Canterbury), England
* Old Synagogue (Dortmund), Germany
* Old Synagogue (Dubrovnik), Croatia
* Old Synagogue (Erfurt), Germany
* Old Synagogue (Essen), Germany
* O ...
became too small for the local worshippers. The construction begun in 1896, and the architect in charge was
Max Grünfeld, son of
Ignatz Grünfeld who designed the old synagogue. The construction was finished in 1900 and the synagogue was opened on 12 October 1900.
The synagogue was set on fire by
Nazis
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 Na ...
in early days of September 1939 after they gained control of the city during the
invasion of Poland (1939)
The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week afte ...
; probably on 8 September.
[Klaus-Dieter Alicke wrote (''Lexikon der Jüdischen Gemeinden im deutschen Sprachraum'', 2008, ): "die Synagoge urdein Brand gesteckt – unter dem Vorwand, im Gebäude verborgene Heckenschützen unschädlich zu machen. Das Bauwerk brannte völlig nieder, seine Reste wurden danach abgetragen, nach Kriegsende die Freiflache teilweise überbaut." (.. was set on fire - under the pretense to dispose snipers hidden in the building. The fire destroyed the building completely; the remains were removed. After the war, the free area was partially covered with buildings)]
After the war the few Jews who survived the
Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
were unable to gather enough resources and support to rebuild the synagogue. Today in the place where this building once stood is a square (Synagogue Square). In the 1988 a monument was raised in the square, dedicated to the Jewish inhabitants of the city who perished during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
Design
The brick synagogue was designed on the basis of a modified
rectangle
In Euclidean plane geometry, a rectangle is a quadrilateral with four right angles. It can also be defined as: an equiangular quadrilateral, since equiangular means that all of its angles are equal (360°/4 = 90°); or a parallelogram containi ...
in style mixing
Neo-Gothic
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
with
Neo-Renaissance
Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...
,
eclecticism
Eclecticism is a conceptual approach that does not hold rigidly to a single paradigm or set of assumptions, but instead draws upon multiple theories, styles, or ideas to gain complementary insights into a subject, or applies different theories in ...
and traces of
Mauritian style; similar to the style of reformed Judaism synagogues in contemporary
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
.
The synagogue had a large
dome
A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...
with a
cross-ribbed vault
A rib vault or ribbed vault is an architectural feature for covering a wide space, such as a church nave, composed of a framework of crossed or diagonal arched ribs. Variations were used in Roman architecture, Byzantine architecture, Islamic ...
over the main prayer chamber which was preceded by a large entrance hall with offices and the chamber of marriage. The main chamber was topped with a
lantern
A lantern is an often portable source of lighting, typically featuring a protective enclosure for the light sourcehistorically usually a candle or a wick in oil, and often a battery-powered light in modern timesto make it easier to carry and h ...
. Other characteristics elements included large decorated windows and small towers.
The main chamber could hold 1120 people; 670 males and 450 females.
References
{{coord, 50, 15, 40, N, 19, 01, 08, E, region:PL-SL_type:landmark_source:dewiki, display=title
Synagogues completed in 1900
Buildings and structures in Katowice
Gothic Revival synagogues
Synagogues in Poland destroyed by Nazi Germany
Gothic Revival architecture in Poland
Renaissance Revival synagogues
Synagogue buildings with domes