Polish Synagogue Will Become Jewish Museum
17th-century structure in town of Leczna was restored after World War II
December 29, 2014
Great Synagogue in Leczna, Poland. (Virtual Shtetl)
The Polish town of Leczna’s Great Synagogue, a restored 17th-century structure, will become a museum dedicated to the town’s Jewish history. JTA reports that the baroque synagogue, which was destroyed during World War II and rebuilt in the 1960s, has been the site of a regional museum since its restoration.
The new museum was proposed by the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland, which acquired the synagogue in 2013.
The Great Synagogue is believed to have been built around 1655, less than 10 years after the town’s Jewish population were granted permission by the Archbishop of Krakow to build a house of worship. A plaque commemorates the murder of 1,046 Jews in Leczna by Nazis between 1940 and 1942.
The new museum, which will showcase the synagogue’s well-preserved Judaica, has an anticipated 2016 opening.
Stephanie Butnick is chief strategy officer of Tablet Magazine, co-founder of Tablet Studios, and a host of the Unorthodox podcast.
