The Biecz Synagogue is a former synagogue in Biecz, Poland. It is located on the main square of the town. Built in 1903, it is now used as a public library.

Biecz Synagogue
The former synagogue in Biecz, now a public library.
Religion
AffiliationJudaism
StatusInactive
Location
LocationBiecz, Poland
Biecz Synagogue is located in Poland
Biecz Synagogue
Shown within Poland
Biecz Synagogue is located in Lesser Poland Voivodeship
Biecz Synagogue
Biecz Synagogue (Lesser Poland Voivodeship)
Geographic coordinates49°44′N 21°15′E / 49.73°N 21.25°E / 49.73; 21.25
Architecture
TypeSynagogue
Date established1903; 121 years ago (1903)

History

edit

The synagogue was built in 1903,[1] with two separate entrances: one for men, which leads to the ground floor, and another one for women, which leads to the first floor.[2] By the early 1930s, the town of Biecz was home to 500 Jews, making up 15% of the entire population.[2]

During World War II, the Nazis established a Jewish ghetto around the synagogue.[2] Eventually, they killed 150 Jews and deported the remaining Jews to the Bełżec extermination camp.[2]

In the 1990s, the US-based Society of Jews from Biecz in New York added a commemorative plaque to the building.[2]

References

edit
  1. ^ "The Synagogue in Biecz, Rynek 20". Virtual Shtetl. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d e Webber, Jonathan (2009). Rediscovering Traces of Memory: The Jewish Heritage of Polish Galicia. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. pp. 19, 136. ISBN 9781906764036. OCLC 323127181.
edit