The Zabłudów 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

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 ...

, located in

Zabłudów Zabłudów (; ) is a town in Białystok County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland, seat of Gmina Zabłudów. History The town of Zabłudów was founded in 1553, it was also granted Magdeburg rights, Magdeburg town rights. An annual ...

, 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 ...

. Completed in , 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 ...

in June 1941. The synagogue was burned to the ground by the German occupying authorities immediately after their conquest of the town.

History

In the 17th century the town was owned by the

Radziwiłł family The House of Radziwiłł (; ; ; ) is a Polish princely family of Lithuanian origin, and one of the most powerful magnate families originating from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later also prominent in the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland. Pa ...

. In 1635 permission was granted by

Krzysztof Radziwiłł Prince Krzysztof Radziwiłł () (22 March 1585, Biržai – 19 November 1640) was a Polish–Lithuanian noble (szlachcic), and a notable magnate, politician and military commander of his epoch. Sometimes referred to as ''Krzysztof Radziwił ...

for the construction of the synagogue. Most likely this was built by his son Janusz Radziwiłł in 1640. Over the years it was permanently extended and altered. The last alterations took place between 1895 and 1923. It was burnt down by German soldiers in the first days of the

invasion of the Soviet Union Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along a ...

in June 1941. A replica of the Zabłudów synagogue was made in 2004 at the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

in the course study.

Architecture

The main hall was built of horizontal timbers and was nearly square in plan, or . The walls had a height of ; the height to the most elevated point of the

barrel vault A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault, wagon vault or wagonhead vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given distance. The curves are ...

was . Originally the main hall would have been lit by eight two-light windows, 2 in each wall. Following addition of a women's prayer room on the upper level, the west windows were removed. Already in 1646 it had been decided to build a women's room at ground level. In later years, two corner pavilions were added. In 1765 restoration of the entire building was undertaken and at the beginning of the 18th century the vestibule was enlarged and a women's room was constructed above it. The shape of the roof was altered several times. The

Holy Ark A Torah ark (also known as the ''hekhal'', , or ''aron qodesh'', ) is an ornamental chamber in the synagogue that houses the Torah scrolls. History The ark is also known as the ''ark of law'', or in Hebrew the ''Aron Kodesh'' () or ''aron ha-Ko ...

was elevated on two levels and composed of elements of varied artistic and material quality. The Bimah was an octagonal ''little building-chapel'' with two ''porches'' over the stairs. It was located near the entrance.

Gallery

File:Zabłudów-synagoga.jpg, Zabłudów Synagogue File:Zabłudów -.jpg, Bimah

References

External links

* {{Synagogues in Poland 1941 disestablishments in Poland 17th-century synagogues in Poland Buildings and structures demolished in 1941 Buildings and structures destroyed during World War II Former synagogues in Poland Synagogues completed in the 1640s Synagogues in Poland destroyed by Nazi Germany Wooden buildings and structures in Poland Wooden synagogues

History

Architecture

Gallery

See also

References

External links