Synagogue (Bzenec)

Synagogue in Bzenec (left side with corner towers)

The last synagogue in Bzenec (German Bisenz ), a town in Okres Hodonín in the South Moravian Jihomoravský kraj region in the Czech Republic , was built in 1863. The synagogue was demolished in 1960.

history

The first reliable written mention of a synagogue in Bzenec comes from the second half of the 16th century. It is believed, however, that it existed as early as the 14th century: it is said to have been 500 years old when it was demolished in 1859. A new representative synagogue was built in its place in 1963 in the neo-Romanesque, oriental style, which was reconstructed in 1925. Hebrew and religious classes for children were also held in the synagogue.

Like the Jewish quarter and the whole town, the synagogue was devastated several times by armed events (e.g. in 1550, later in the 17th and 18th centuries) and also by major fires (such as in 1777). On the other hand, the synagogue in Bzenec is one of the very few in Moravia that survived the period of National Socialism and the occupation of Czechoslovakia relatively unscathed - until December 1941, when NSDAP troops tried to demolish the synagogue together with the Czechoslovak fascist party Vlajka .

After 1945, when the Jewish community did not actually exist, the synagogue served as a warehouse. In the mid-1950s, the city wanted to convert the building into a cultural center, but in the absence of appropriate investigations, the statics of the building were destroyed and the building had to be demolished in 1960.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Jiří Fiedler: Židovské památky v Čechách a na Moravě , keyword Bzenec , online at: holocaust.cz / ...
2. ^ ^{A b} Klaus-Dieter Alicke: Lexicon of the Jewish communities in the German-speaking area. Volume 1: Aach - Groß-Bieberau. Gütersloher Verlagshaus, Gütersloh 2008, ISBN 978-3-579-08077-2 , online at: www.jüdische-gemeinden.de / ...
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Synagoga , compilation based on several biographies, portal of the “Starý Bzenec” association, online at: starybzenec.cz/synagoga

See also

• Bzenec Jewish Community
• Jewish cemetery (Bzenec)
• Jewish Mourning Hall (Bzenec)
• Bzenec Jewish Quarter

Coordinates: 48 ° 58 ′ 30 ″  N , 17 ° 15 ′ 55 ″  E