This is a photograph of the Great Synagogue of Katowice from the Centropa collection. The photograph was taken on a snowy day in the 1930s and shows the large synagogue with its elaborate architecture including a large dome and intricate entrance, windows and turrets.
The Great Synagogue was the largest synagogue in Katowice, Poland, built in 1900 when the city was part of Germany. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, the existing Old Synagogue became too small for the growing community, and a new brick synagogue was built in a mixture of architectural styles including a large dome with a cross-ribbed vault over the main prayer hall. Its style is reminiscent of many Reform synagogues in Germany at the time. The main prayer hall could hold 1,120 people. Upon the Nazi occupation of the city in September 1939, the synagogue was set on fire. Today, where the large synagogue stood, is a monument dedicated to the Jews of Katowice who perished in the Holocaust.
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Jewish Community of Katowice, Poland – The first record of Jews in Katowice is from the first half of the eighteenth century, following the Toleranzpatent (edict of toleration) issued by Karl VI allowing the Jews to settle in Silesia in return for special taxation. As the city’s industry grew, so did the Jewish population. Because of restrictions on the community, the first synagogue was built in 1862 with other community institutions following a few years later. This period was a time of emancipation for the community. In 1884, the first convention of Hovevei Zion ( a variety of organisations established in the Russian Empire and considered forerunners of the Zionist movement) was held in Katowice. By 1910 more than 3,000 of Katowice’s residents were Jews, and the community grew significantly after World War I and the annexation of the previously Prussian city to Poland. In 1932 there were 9,000 Jews in Katowice and a new cultural and social centre was founded together with Jewish schools and a Hebrew-language school. The 1930s, however, were also a time of growing tension between the Jewish and non-Jewish residents of Katowice. On September 3, 1939 the Nazis occupied the city and the Great Synagogue was burnt to the ground. Within a few months, the Jews of Katowice were deported to Sosnowiec, where they were imprisoned in the ghetto and later sent to death camps. After the Holocaust, some Jews returned to Katowice, but their numbers gradually declined, and by 2016 there were only 200 Jews remaining. There are three synagogues, a community clinic, a kosher restaurant, and a community centre.
