Obj. ID: 20194
Jewish Architecture New Synagogue in Gliwice, Poland
The Synagogue in Gliwice (15 Dolnych Wałów Street) was built in 1859-1861 and designed by Salomon Lubowski and Louis Troplowitz. It stood next to an old synagogue, erected in 1812, and was one of the biggest and most beautiful synagogues in Upper Silesia. The construction works costed 25 000 thalers.
The brick building of the synagogue had a rectangular layout and was build in a Neoromanesque-Moorish style. Its front was decorated with a beautiful portal, which had two towers on both sides, topped with spired domes . The spires had a Star of David on their peaks. There were two rows of semi-circular windows on the sidewalls. The main entrance to the synagogue faced the Inwalidów Square. The interior of the main prayer room was lit by a large chandelier.
The consecration ceremony was held on 29 August 1861. In 1911 reconstruction and improvement works have been conducted.
During the "Kristallnacht" (i.e. the night of 9th to 10th November 1938) the synagogue was burned by the Nazis. On 10 November 1938, the remaining ruins were blown out, and afterwards a park and a playground covered the empty yard. In 2002 the plot of land was purchased by a private owner.
Since 2003 the place of the synagogue has been commemorated with two plaques by Krzysztof Nitsch. On the upper decorative plaque a Polish-Hebrew text has been inscribed: "A synagogue used to stand in this place between 1861 and 1938." On the lower plaque a Polish-German text has been inscribed: "Setting fire to the synagogue during Kristallnacht, in the night of 9th to 10th November 1938, has become a symbol of the repression and persecution of the Gliwice Jewish community, which, for more than 150 years, co-shaped the history of this town. The deportations of over 600 members of the Jewish community to the Nazi Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp ended in December 1943".
In 2008, on the initiative of the "Memory-Zikaron" Assocation for Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Gliwice, the memorial plaques were cleaned.
(Text from Virtual Shtetl)