| Kościelna Street, today Plac Księdza Jana Skarbka (“Father Jan Skarbek Square”), with the Chevra Lomdei Mishnayot Synagogue (left) znd Kornreich and Dattner Families House (today Jewish Center). Photo was probably taken during the deportation of Oświęcim Jews, 1941. The Oświęcim Synagogue, also called the Auschwitz Synagogue and officially called the Chevra Lomdei Mishnayot Synagogue (Polish: Synagoga Chewra Lomdei Misznajot w Oświęcimiu; English: Association of Those Who Study Mishna), is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at Plac Księdza Jana Skarbka 5, Oświęcim (Auschwitz). The synagogue was built between circa 1913 and 1918. During World War II, the Nazis demolished its interior and used the building as a munitions depot. After the war ended, a small group of Jewish survivors restored the synagogue to its proper function. However, the custodians soon left Poland due to the antisemitism of the communist authorities of the 1950s and 1960s; as a result, the synagogue ceased to operate. In the 1970s, under communist Poland, the empty building was used as a carpet warehouse. The Oświęcim Synagogue was the 1st building restored to the Jewish community under the Polish government’s post-Communism law governing the restitution of Jewish communal property seized by German occupiers during World War II, and retained by the post-war Communist government. The building was claimed by, and is now owned by, the Jewish community of nearby Bielsko-Biała. The synagogue reopened on September 11, 2000, completely restored to its pre-war condition by the Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation, at the cost of 1,000,000 dollars. The temple’s interior has been reconstructed. It has once again become an active synagogue used for prayers by groups and individuals visiting Auschwitz. The adjoining house was purchased by the foundation and turned into a contemporary museum called the Żydowskie Centrum Edukacyjne (“Auschwitz Jewish Center”). It depicts the life of Jews in pre-war Oświęcim. Both the synagogue and the Jewish center are affiliated with the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0563.jpg |
| Image Size | 222.33 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 1600 x 1133 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | January 1, 1941 |
| Location | |
| City | Auschwitz |
| State or Province | Upper Silesia |
| Country | Poland |
| Archive | |
| Record Number | Auschwitz Museum |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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