Chewra Lomdei Mishnayot Synagogue in Oświęcim

The Chewra Lomdei Misznajot Synagogue on ks. Jana Skarbka Square in Oświęcim is a small brick house of prayer of the bet midrash type, built just before the First World War. The name means in Hebrew the Society of Students of the Mishnah. Today the building operates together with the neighbouring Jewish Centre in Oświęcim.

Where the synagogue came from

The society was registered in 1893 and in 1912 bought a plot at the former Szpitalny Square from a couple named Glass. Construction began in 1913, and in September 1918 the building was already serving worshippers. The heritage register gives the date as 1913.

What the building looks like

It is a rectangular brick building with a gable roof and irregularly placed windows: semicircular in the east and west walls and with segmental arches on the south. The main prayer hall was furnished with carved wooden elements: the aron ha-kodesh (the cabinet for the Torah scrolls), the bimah and benches. In a smaller room on the north side was the women's section, connected to the prayer hall by small windows.

The occupation and the post-war years

During the German occupation the interior was devastated and the building served as an ammunition store. After the war Soviet troops returned it to religious use, but by 1955 almost all of Oświęcim's Jewish residents had left the town. Later the building housed various businesses, including a carpet wholesaler in 1992-1997. An account of the fate of Oświęcim's Jews during the war years can be found in the nearby Jewish Centre, and a place linked to the Holocaust on the scale of the whole region is Auschwitz-Birkenau, a few kilometres away.

Recovery and renovation

In March 1998 the synagogue was returned to the Jewish Community in Bielsko-Biała and then handed over to the Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation. A thorough renovation lasted from November 1999 to July 2000. The official opening for religious and educational purposes took place on 12 September 2000. The building is entered in the heritage register.

Practical information

• Address: ks. Jana Skarbka Square 5, Oświęcim, in the town centre.
• About 100 m away is Oświęcim Castle.
• Check the rules for visiting and the opening hours with the Jewish Centre, which manages the building, before your visit.