Obj. ID: 50299
Modern Jewish Art Memorial Plaque at the site of the Synagogue in Zrenjanin, Serbia, 1997, 2022
To the main object: Synagogue in Zrenjanin, Serbia
Memorial Name
No official name
Who and What is Comemmorated?
The 1288 Jews deported from Zrenjanin.
The destroyed synagogue that stood at this site
Description
A plaque, made of plastic material, is mounted on a wall of a building built at the site where the Zrenjanin synagogue once stood. It replaced a commemorative plaque from 1997 mounted on the same site.
The plaque features the image of the synagogue and inscriptions in Serbo-Croatian, Hebrew, and English with identical content. The years 1997/2022 are also listed, as the year of the installation of the first and the new memorial plaque.
Inscriptions
Serbo-Croatian
U znak sećanja na jevrejsku zajednicu u Zrenjaninu i velelepnu sinagogu podignutu
1896, a porušenu 1941. godine, kada je deportovano 1288 Jevreja Zrenjanina i okoline.
Spomen ploču postavlja Jevrejska opština Zrenjanin u saradnji sa gradom.
Hebrew (incorrect phrasing)
ואשר 1896 לזכר הקהילה היהודית בזרנינון ולזכר בית הכנסת המפואר שניבנה בשנת
יהודים נילקחו מזרנינין וסביבותיה. אנדרתה זאת 1288 כאשר 1941 נהרס בשנת
ניבנתה על ידי הקהילה היהודית בזרנינין ובעזרת העיריה.
English
In memory of the Jewish community in Zrenjanin and the magnificent synagogue built
in 1896 and destroyed in 1941, when 1288 Jews from Zrenjanin and surrounding areas
were deported. The memorial plaque was placed by the Jewish Community of Zrenjanin
in cooperation with the city.
1997/2022
Inscription on the 1997 plaque (Serbo-Croatian)
U spomen 250 godina od dolaska Jevreja u ove krajeve, njihovog doprinosa razvitku našeg grada, učešća u narodnooslobodilačkoj borbi i 1260 žrtava koje dadoše u drugom svetskom ratu. Ovu spomen ploču podižu sugrađani grada Zrenjanina na mestu gde je stajala velelepna sinagoga delo Leopolda Baumhorna podignuta 1896. a nacisti je srušili 1941. godine.
U Zrenjaninu
Februar 1997.
Jevrejska opština Zrenjanin
Translation: 'In memory of the 250th anniversary of the arrival of Jews to this area, in honor of their contribution to the development of our city, participation in the national liberation struggle and in commemoration of 1260 victims who gave their lives in the Second World War. This commemorative plaque has been erected by fellow citizens of the city of Zrenjanin at the place where the magnificent synagogue, a work by Leopold Baumhorn, was built in 1896 and demolished by the Nazis in 1941. / In Zrenjanin / February 1997 / Jewish Community of Zrenjanin
Commissioned by
The Jewish Community Zrenjanin and the Municipality of Zrenjanin
6 image(s)
sub-set tree:
The synagogue, designed by Lipót Baumhorn, a famous Hungarian-Jewish architect, was built in 1896. This magnificent building, which took almost four years to build, was a source of pride not only for the Jews but for all their fellow citizens, as it was a unique architectural gem and the only building with elements of the Moorish style of architecture in the entire Banat area.
Soon after the Volksdeutsche seized power in Zrenjanin in April 1941, they decided that this building should be demolished, because they suspected that its foundations and walls contained hidden gold and valuables hidden there by the Jews, who had already been by that time arrested and deported to camps. Of course, there was no gold, but the synagogue was destroyed. In the walls and foundations were only metal boxes that were put there at the beginning of the construction of the temple, bearing only messages to future generations written on pieces of paper.
The first plaque on the site of the demolished synagogue was unveiled in February 1997. It was a black granite plaque that featured the Magen David on top and below the inscription in Serbo-Croatian. The Jewish Community of Zrenjanin initiated the creation and mounting of the plaque.
In 2022, this plaque was removed and replaced with the current plaque with a similar inscription but significantly shortened. The old memorial plaque was damaged, and creating a new plaque rather than restoring the existing one was imposed as a better solution by both the local Jewish community and Zrenjanin municipality.
Representatives of the Jewish Community of Zrenjanin and the Municipality of Zrenjanin organize annual commemoration ceremonies on this site on International Holocaust Remembrance Day (January 27).
Ivanji, Ivan. “Krajnja destinacija smrt,” Vreme, 18.08.2016,
Krčmar, Filip, Aleksandar Stefanov, Tihomir Bogović and Aleksandar Radlovački.“Grobovi koji putuju: Memorijalno jevrejsko groblje u Zrenjaninu,” Zbornik 10, Jevrejski istorijski muzej (2015), pp. 415-486.
"Memorials in Zrenjanin," Locations (Vojvodina Holocaust Memorials Project), https://www.vhmproject.org/en-US/Locations/Memorials/27 (accessed July 2, 2023)
Subić, Petar, Spomen-ploče u gradu Zrenjaninu, (Zrenjanin: Art-Projekt, 2013)
“Zrenjanin: Spomen obeležje na mestu nekadašnje sinagoge,” Savez jevrejskih opština Srbije: kultura, https://www.savezjos.org/sr/vest/kultura/zrenjanin:-spomen-obelezje-na-mestu-nekadasnje-sinagoge (accessed July 2, 2023)