The site of a synagogue built in 1882 and destroyed by the Germans during the Second World War; a memorial plaque has stood here since 2019.
The synagogue in Milówka no longer exists. The brick building was erected in 1882 on what is now Grunwaldzka Street, near the bridge over the Soła. During the Second World War it was demolished by the Germans and was not rebuilt after the war.
The synagogue stood on a rectangular plan. In the western part there was a vestibule, above which on the upper floor was the women's gallery, that is the section for women. Beyond it was the main prayer hall with a richly decorated Aron ha-kodesh on the east wall.
The Israelite Religious Community was approved here on 15 June 1894. It covered Milówka, Kamesznica, Juszczyna, Żabnica, Nieledwia and several nearby villages. By the end of the 19th century the Jews already had their own cemetery, a ritual slaughterhouse for cattle and poultry, and a synagogue.
In the interwar period about 240 people of the Jewish faith lived in Milówka, that is, according to a representative of the Bielsko Jewish community, about 10 per cent of the village's inhabitants. Those Jews who did not manage to emigrate were killed in the German Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. After the war none of them returned to Milówka permanently.
On the site of the synagogue, on the wall of the Farmers' Circle building on Grunwaldzka Street, a plaque commemorating the local Jewish community was unveiled on 18 June 2019. It was erected through the efforts of the Jewish Religious Community in Bielsko-Biała, and the ceremony was attended by, among others, representatives of the Catholic Church and Jewish circles.
By the road to Kamesznica a fenced Jewish cemetery has survived with some of its matzevot, as was reported at the unveiling of the plaque.
Be the first! Add a comment.
You need to log in to add a comment.
Log in