This is a postcard depicting the New Synagogue used by the Liberal Jewish community in Breslau, Poland. The synagogue was constructed in 1865 and had the capacity to host 2000 people. It was designed by the Jewish-German architect Edwin Oppler in the neo-romantic style with four towers and a 70-metre dome. At the time of its construction it was the second largest synagogue in Western Europe, the largest being the Great Synagogue in Berlin.
The synagogue was destroyed during Kristallnacht, November 9–10, 1938 and has not been rebuilt. Today there is a memorial monument in its place.
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Breslau (Wroclaw) - The Jewish community of Breslau is one of the oldest in today’s Poland (previously Germany), with the earliest evidence of Jews in the city dating from the twelfth century. During the Middle Ages the city included synagogues, a mikve (ritual baths), and cemeteries. However, throughout this time, Jews were persecuted, burned at the stake, and expelled, only officially returning in the middle of the eighteenth century. From this time on, the community began to grow and became an important centre for Jewish learning and printing. By the end of the eighteenth century, Jewish schools and other institutions were established to cater for the growing orthodox and reform communities, and in the nineteenth century, Breslau boasted the second largest synagogue in Germany and was the third largest community in Germany, comprising more than 30,000 people in 1939. With the rise of the Nazis, schools, synagogues, cemeteries, and institutions were destroyed, and in September 1941 the Jews of Breslau were driven from their home, moved to designated Jewish houses (Judenhauser) and deported to concentration and death camps. Few of the Jews of Breslau survived, and many of these survivors immigrated to Israel. After the war, the German city of Breslau became the Polish city of Wroclaw. In the 1990s the city attracted many Jews from the former Soviet Union; however, today only around 1,000 Jews live in Wroclaw.
