Synagogue in Ustroń

The synagogue in Ustroń stood at Ogrodowa 10 and has not existed since 1939. Today a monument in the shape of a Jewish gravestone stands on the site. It is a place of remembrance of Ustroń's Jewish community.

The synagogue and its destruction

The synagogue was built in 1901-1902. According to the Austrian census of 1900, Ustroń had 110 residents of the Jewish faith (2.3 per cent of the municipality's population), in 1910 there were 107, and in 1921 there were 139. In 1939 the Germans burned the synagogue down. After the war the rubble was removed and the ground levelled, and a street of the Willowa district now runs across the former synagogue site.

The monument

On 12 June 1997 a monument in the shape of a Jewish gravestone was unveiled, commemorating the place where the synagogue stood. It was funded by an Ustroń Jew now living in Australia. The inscription on the monument is in Polish and Hebrew. The monument is surrounded by an iron fence with a menorah and two Stars of David worked into it, and shrubs have been planted around it.

The history of the town and the region is told by the Jan Jarocki Ustroń Museum.

Practical information

• Place: Ustroń, near Ogrodowa 10, the monument on the former synagogue plot.
• The monument is freely accessible; it is a place of remembrance, so keep quiet.
• Check the exact location of the monument on a map before your visit.