Synagogues in Poland

There are many synagogues in Poland, their states ranging from beautiful restoration to symbolic and literal states of disrepair, a reminder of the destruction of Jewish culture and community between 1939-1945. Our fellows group has visited synagogues in bigger cities like Krakow, Warsaw, and Lodz, and in small towns such as Szydlow, Dzialosycze, Chmielnik, and Oswiecim. At the time of the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939 there were 3.5 million Jewish people in Poland. By war's end there were approximately 350,000. Ninety percent of Poland's Jewish population had been murdered. Synagogues in contemporary Poland, both post-war and post-Communist era, remind visitors of both the gradual resurgence and resilience of Jewish culture and of the destruction that virtually erased Jewish communities, towns, and urban centers that had, for the most part, thrived prior to the war.

Remuh Synagogue. Orthodox. Krakow, Poland. First built in 16th century,
destroyed in WWII and restored.

Issac Synagogue. Krakow, Poland, 1664.

Reform synagogue with neo-Moorish deisgn elements.
Krakow, Poland. 

Szydlow, Poland. A restored synagogue. Now also a museum and art center.

 Nożyk Synagogue, Warsaw. 1898.

Beautiful molding.

Women's section.

Lodz, Poland. Synagogue at Jewish cemetery.

Restored synagogue at Auschwitz Jewish Center, Oswiecim, Poland.

Flowers blossom and butterflies pollinate in the garden at Auschwitz Jewish Center.
Flowers thrive in Poland's humid weather and afternoon thundershowers nourish.