This is a postcard with an illustration in pastel colours of the Great Synagogue in Warsaw, Poland as it looked in 1896. The large synagogue is set back from the street with a wide plaza in front. The postcard depicts several people standing in the plaza. Another large building sits perpendicular to the synagogue. The synagogue is designed in the classical style with large pillars at the entrance and a domed roof.
The Great Synagogue was opened in 1878 and was, at the time, the largest in the world, seating 2,000 people. The synagogue was blown up by the SS in May 1943 as the last act in the destruction of the Warsaw ghetto.
Would You Like to Know More?
The Great Synagogue of Warsaw – The Great Synagogue was opened on Rosh Hashanah, September 26, 1878. At the time of its building, the Great Synagogue was the largest synagogue in the world, seating 2,000 people. The building project was headed by the most prominent architect in Warsaw, Leandro Marconi. The members of the synagogue were wealthy and assimilated, and the synagogue accepted the modern reforms of the time such as delivering sermons in Polish, praying with a choir accompaniment, and hiring a cantor who also sang opera. The synagogue housed an organ which was used during weddings.
In 1940 the synagogue was within the borders of the Warsaw ghetto. On May 16, 1943, as a symbolic end to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, SS General Jurgen Stroop blew up the Great Synagogue. He described the event in detail and pride in his book, Conversations with an Executioner:
"After prolonging the suspense for a moment, I shouted: 'Heil Hitler' and pressed the button. With a thunderous, deafening bang and a rainbow burst of colors, the fiery explosion soared toward the clouds, an unforgettable tribute to our triumph over the Jews. The Warsaw Ghetto was no more. The will of Adolf Hitler and Heinrich Himmler had been done."
The synagogue was not rebuilt after the war, although the library that stood next to the synagogue and was damaged by fire when the synagogue was destroyed, has been renovated and currently houses the Jewish Historical Institute. Since 1991 an office building called The Blue Tower has stood on the site of the former Great Synagogue of Warsaw.
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising – Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. A year later the Germans outlined their plans for creating a Jewish ghetto in Warsaw by October 31, 1940. The Jews of Warsaw and other regions in Poland were sent to live in a small section of the city, resulting in over-crowded conditions and tremendous food scarcity and sickness. In 1942, the decision was made to liquidate the ghetto and to deport over two million Polish Jews to the death camps. After eighteen months of deportations, approximately 55,000-60,000 Jews still lived in the ghetto. In April 1943, the Jews in the Warsaw ghetto learned of a planned deportation of the remaining inhabitants of the ghetto to Treblinka. Under the leadership of 23-year-old Mordecai Anielewicz, the Jews resisted and fought against the Germans. After several days of fighting, the German commander, General Jurgen Stroop, burned the ghetto down, but the Jewish resistance continued for another twenty-seven days. On May 8, Mordecai Anielewicz’s headquarters were discovered and captured. Anielewicz, along with many of his fighters, were killed, although several dozen fighters escaped through the sewers. On May 16, Stroop declared the fighting was over and blew up the Great Synagogue. Approximately 7,000 Jews and 300 Germans were killed during the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. Another 7,000 Jews were subsequently deported to Treblinka. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising remains a powerful example of resistance during the Holocaust.
Synagogue Design – The design of synagogues is influenced by the place, time, and community that built it. All synagogues face toward Jerusalem and include certain features such as the ark (aron hakodesh) where the Torah scrolls are kept, a curtain (parochet) in front of the ark, a prayer platform (bimah) from which the services are led , and a lamp that is kept constantly lit (ner tamid). In Orthodox synagogues men and women sit separately, while in Reform and Conservative synagogues families sit together. In many Sephardi synagogues the congregation sits around the bimah, while in Ashkenazi synagogues the congregation sit in rows facing the ark. Karaite synagogues differ from the more common synagogues and do not have any seats. While some synagogues are very simple in style, others are very ornate and include stained glass windows, intricate designs on the walls, and candelabras. There are very few traditional guidelines for synagogues except that they should include windows and be the tallest building in the area. In many places, however, Jews were not allowed to build tall buildings, and some synagogues were even built below ground level. For these reasons, synagogues were often built hidden within existing buildings or protected by a high wall. The emancipation of the Jews in nineteenth-century Western Europe impacted the architecture of synagogues, and large, elaborate synagogues were built, often in central locations.
