The Great Synagogue was a former

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

congregation and

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

, that was located at the southeastern corner of the Main Square, at the intersection of today's Giełczyńska and Senatorska Streets, in

Łomża Łomża () is a city in north-eastern Poland, approximately to the north-east of Warsaw and west of Białystok. It is situated alongside the Narew river as part of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the capital of Łomża County and has been the se ...

, in the

Podlaskie Voivodeship Podlaskie Voivodeship ( ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship in northeastern Poland. The name of the voivodeship refers to the historical region of Podlachia (in Polish, ''Podlasie''), and significant part of its territory corresponds to th ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. Designed by

Enrico Marconi Enrico Marconi, known in Poland as Henryk Marconi (7 January 1792 in Rome – 21 February 1863 in Warsaw), was an Italian- Polish architect who spent most of his life in Congress Poland. Initially he was taught by his father Leander, later on, be ...

in the ''

Rundbogenstil (round-arch style) is a 19th-century historic revival style of architecture popular in the German-speaking lands and the German diaspora. It combines elements of Byzantine, Romanesque, and Renaissance architecture with particular s ...

'' style and completed in 1889, the synagogue served as a house of prayer until World War II when it was destroyed by

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

between 1939 and 1941.

History

wooden synagogue Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin that ...

was established by the congregation, that dated from the 15th century. It was built from 1878 to 1889 on the initiative of Rabbi Eliezer-Simcha Rabinowicz, and it was designed by Italian-Polish architect Enrico Marconi from

Congress Poland Congress Poland or Congress Kingdom of Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It was established w ...

. From 1918 to 1922, the synagogue's chief

cantor A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. Cantor as a profession generally refers to those leading a Jewish congregation, although it also applies to the lead singer or choir director in Christian contexts. ...

was Isaac Hirshow. The Great Synagogue was destroyed by the invading Germans either in September 1939, at the very beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, or in September 1941, soon after the German attack on the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and the creation of the

Łomża Ghetto The Łomża Ghetto was a Nazi ghetto created by on 12 August 1941 in Łomża, Poland; for the purpose of persecution of Polish Jews. Two months after Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union, the Jews were ordered to move there in ...

for the Jews from surrounding villages and towns. Most likely the Great Synagogue was destroyed in stages, first burned down, and levelled out later. A memorial plaque marks the site of the former synagogue, with an inscription in Polish and Hebrew, which reads:

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Great Synagogue, Lomza 1940s disestablishments in Poland 19th-century synagogues in Poland Buildings and structures demolished in the 1940s Buildings and structures in Łomża Former Orthodox synagogues in Poland Religious buildings and structures in Podlaskie Voivodeship Rundbogenstil synagogues Synagogues completed in 1889 Synagogues in Poland destroyed by Nazi Germany

History

See also

References

External links