The White Stork Synagogue ( pl, Synagoga Pod Białym Bocianem) is a nineteenth-century
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 ...
in
Wrocław
Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...
,
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 ...
. Rededicated in 2010 after a decade-long renovation, it is the religious and cultural centre of the local Jewish community, under the auspices of the
Union of Jewish Religious Communities in Poland.
It is the only synagogue in Wrocław to have 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 ...
.
History
The synagogue, which opened in 1829 when the city was known as Breslau and part of the
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Re ...
, is a three-story
Neoclassical designed by the architect
Carl Ferdinand Langhans
Carl Ferdinand Langhans (14 January 1782 – 22 November 1869) was a Prussian architect whose specialty was designing theaters.
Born in Breslau (Wrocław), Silesia, Langhans was the son of the architect Carl Gotthard Langhans.
Langhans' de ...
(1781–1869). Langhans was one of the foremost 19th-century architects of
Silesia
Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...
. He was among Germany’s foremost theater designers. He also designed the Breslau
Actors' Guild Theater and
Opera House
An opera house is a theatre building used for performances of opera. It usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and building sets.
While some venues are constructed specifically for o ...
. The original interior, now lost, was designed by the painter
Raphael Biow (1771–1836) and his son
Hermann Biow
Hermann Biow (1804 – 20 February 1850) was an early German photographer who worked with daguerreotypes. In partnership with Carl Ferdinand Stelzner, he opened Germany's first daguerreotype studio in Hamburg in 1841. He is remembered for his im ...
(1804–1850).
The name was taken from an inn of the same name which had previously stood on the site.
The main prayer hall is surrounded on three sides with women's galleries. Two levels of galleries to the north and two on the south flank a single gallery on the eastern
Torah ark
A Torah ark (also known as the ''Heikhal'', or the ''Aron Kodesh'') refers to an ornamental chamber in the synagogue that houses the Torah scrolls.
History
The ark, also known as the ''ark of law'', or in Hebrew the ''Aron Kodesh'' or ''aron ha- ...
wall. The wooden frame of the
Torah ark
A Torah ark (also known as the ''Heikhal'', or the ''Aron Kodesh'') refers to an ornamental chamber in the synagogue that houses the Torah scrolls.
History
The ark, also known as the ''ark of law'', or in Hebrew the ''Aron Kodesh'' or ''aron ha- ...
and the damaged tablets of the Ten Commandments are all that remain of the original religious features.
![Boznica1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Boznica1.jpg)
During the
Kristallnacht
() or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (german: Novemberpogrome, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) paramilitary and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from ...
the interior of the building was destroyed by the
Sturmabteilung
The (; SA; literally "Storm Detachment") was the original paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party. It played a significant role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s. Its primary purposes were providing protection for Nazi ral ...
who also tore up the
Torah scrolls
A ( he, סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה; "Book of Torah"; plural: ) or Torah scroll is a handwritten copy of the Torah, meaning the five books of Moses (the first books of the Hebrew Bible). The Torah scroll is mainly used in the ritual of Tora ...
. On the same night, the
New Synagogue, which served the city's
Liberal community was burned to the ground by the Nazi paramilitary groups. The White Stork synagogue, which at the time served
Conservative Jews
Conservative Judaism, known as Masorti Judaism outside North America, is a Jewish religious movements, Jewish religious movement which regards the authority of ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions as coming primarily from its people and com ...
escaped that fate, because it was located close to other buildings and the participants in the pogrom were concerned that any fire would spread to non-Jewish structures.
![Mikveh](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Mikveh.jpg)
The synagogue was renovated by the city's Jewish community and became a place of worship for Jews of all sects until 1943. In that year, the Nazis took over the building and turned it into a warehouse for stolen Jewish property. The city's Jewish inhabitants were rounded up and sent to
death camps
Nazi Germany used six extermination camps (german: Vernichtungslager), also called death camps (), or killing centers (), in Central Europe during World War II to systematically murder over 2.7 million peoplemostly Jewsin the Holocaust. The v ...
, with the synagogue's courtyard serving as a collection point, in the same way as
Umschlagplatz
''Umschlagplatz'' (german: collection point or reloading point) was the term used during The Holocaust to denote the holding areas adjacent to railway stations in occupied Poland where Jews from ghettos were assembled for deportation to Nazi dea ...
in Warsaw.
After the war, the city's Polish authorities turned over the building to the new Jewish community in the city. It functioned as both a community center and a place of worship, despite underfunding, the emigration of Wroclaw's Jews abroad, and repeated vandalism by so-called "unknown perpetrators" (''"nieznani sprawcy"'' a Communist era Polish code word for individuals committing crimes on behalf of the
secret communist police). After the
1968 Polish political crisis
The Polish 1968 political crisis, also known in Poland as March 1968, Students' March, or March events ( pl, Marzec 1968; studencki Marzec; wydarzenia marcowe), was a series of major student, intellectual and other protests against the ruling Poli ...
, which saw a Communist-sponsored anti-Semitic campaign, most of the city's Jews left Poland and shortly thereafter, religious ceremonies in the synagogue were suspended.
The synagogue was in use until 1974, when the authorities expropriated it and gave it to the
University of Wrocław
, ''Schlesische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität zu Breslau'' (before 1945)
, free_label = Specialty programs
, free =
, colors = Blue
, website uni.wroc.pl
The University of Wrocław ( pl, Uniwersytet Wrocławski, U ...
, which used it as a library. In 1989, the university transferred the building to the
Musical Academy. It was purchased by a private firm in 1995. It was subsequently returned to the Jewish community and was under renovation for over a decade.
The renovations were completed and the synagogue rededicated in 2010.
[Wrocław synagogue rededicated.](_blank)
JTA Budapest, May 6, 2010. Retrieved July 19, 2012. There are plans for the synagogue to be used as a Jewish Museum.
On October 11, 2012, during the local
gay rights
Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality.
Notably, , 3 ...
parade, a small window of the synagogue was broken with a stone thrown by an unidentified vandal believed to have belonged to an anti-gay sympathizers of the right-wing ''Polish popular revival'' protesting on the sidelines. Police analyzed the video, but no arrest was made. The incident was assessed by authorities as simple act of vandalism.
In 2014, it celebrated its first ordination of four Reform rabbis and three Reform cantors since the Second World War.
[Polish city marks first rabbinic ordination since World War II](_blank)
''The Times of Israel
''The Times of Israel'' is an Israeli multi-language online newspaper that was launched in 2012. It was co-founded by Israeli journalist David Horovitz, who is also the founding editor, and American billionaire investor Seth Klarman. '', September 3, 2014 The German Foreign Minister attended the ceremony.
See also
*
Four Denominations District
References
External links
Photo galleries of the synagogue and recent restoration
21st-century attacks on synagogues and Jewish communal organizations
Ashkenazi Jewish culture in Poland
Ashkenazi synagogues
Conservative Judaism in Europe
Conservative synagogues
Former synagogues in Poland
History museums in Poland
Holocaust locations in Poland
Jewish museums in Poland
Reform synagogues in Poland
Synagogues completed in 1829
Museums in Wrocław
Neoclassical architecture in Poland
Neoclassical synagogues
Synagogues in Wrocław
Synagogues preserved as museums
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