Tempel Synagogue in Żywiec

The Tempel Synagogue in Żywiec no longer exists. It stood in what is now the Zabłocie district, between Dworcowa and Wesoła streets, and after the war school buildings were put up on its site. It is recalled by a memorial from 2003.

A Reform synagogue in Zabłocie

The synagogue was built in the mid-19th century together with a mikveh, a Jewish Community House, a Jewish Primary School and smaller buildings. Its appearance was close to that of the Tempel Synagogue in Kraków. The entrance led through three doors and a hall, and in the main hall the benches were set in two rows, with the bimah in the middle and the Aron ha-kodesh behind it. Above the hall was a women's gallery in the form of a balcony.

The Germans demolished the synagogue and the surrounding buildings in 1940-1943. After the war the buildings of the Building and Timber Schools Complex were put up on the site; the trees that once surrounded the synagogue have survived.

The memorial from 2003

On 7 July 2003 a memorial by Mirosław Ciślak was unveiled on the synagogue site: a four-tonne sandstone boulder with two plaques of brown granite. The inscription, in Polish and Hebrew, states that the Tempel Synagogue stood here, demolished by the Nazi occupier, and pays tribute to the memory of the Jews of the Żywiec region from the inhabitants of Żywiec.

Practical information

• Place: Żywiec, Zabłocie, in the area of Dworcowa and Wesoła streets, by the school buildings.
• The memorial stands on the synagogue site, next to the school buildings; check the rules of access on site.
• You can learn the history of the town in the Żywiec Municipal Museum.