Zuckerman's House of Prayer in Będzin

Zuckerman's House of Prayer (Dom Modlitwy Cukermana) is a private house of prayer on the first floor of a tenement house at Hugona Kołłątaja avenue 24/28 in Będzin. It has preserved polychrome wall paintings, one of only two found in the Silesian Voivodeship. Before the war Będzin had more than 80 such private houses of prayer, and this one kept an interior with paintings.

Where the house of prayer came from

The house of prayer was founded in the late 1920s or early 1930s on the initiative of Nuchim Zuckerman, in a former flat in the tenement house. According to the foundation's website, the tenement house itself dates from the end of the 19th century. During the German occupation the interior was turned into a warehouse and the polychromes were painted over, and after the war the rooms were converted into a flat.

Discovery and opening

In 2005 fragments of the paintings were discovered, and the premises were examined by experts and historians. In September 2007, after the tenant had left the flat, the house of prayer was opened to tourists and ceremonially inaugurated in the presence of the town authorities and the ambassador of Israel. The Zuckerman Gate Foundation was later established, which deals with the protection, restoration and promotion of the place. The site was entered in the Silesian Register of Monuments. According to the foundation's website, the restoration of the polychromes was carried out from August 2009 to January 2010.

The polychromes

The prayer hall, laid out on a rectangular plan, could hold about 30 people, and women followed the service through an opening in the floor above the hall. Today five legible compositions survive: an altar with twelve loaves of showbread, a menorah, the royal tombs of the House of David, a panorama of Jerusalem and musical instruments, among which a violin and a clarinet can be seen. The walls were also decorated with painted blue curtains and Hebrew inscriptions. Of the former furnishings a fragment of a marble foundation plaque with Hebrew text has survived.

Practical information

• Address: Hugona Kołłątaja avenue 24/28, first floor, Będzin.
• The house of prayer is visited by tourists, descendants of the Jews of Będzin and organised groups. The rules of visiting and contact details are with the foundation (bramacukermana.com); it is worth arranging a visit in advance.
• Nearby is Będzin Castle, and the history of the local Jewish community is covered by the Będzin ghetto.