Update: Synagogue complex & Renovation in Włodawa, Poland

As we anticipated last year, renovation is under way at the important synagogue complex in Włodawa, in southeastern Poland on the border with Belarus. Current work, expected to be completed by 2019, entails repairs to the exterior of the Great Synagogue an elegant late-baroque building dating from the late 18th century.

The complex is one of the most significant surviving sites of Jewish heritage in Poland. The Great Synagogue, which was used as a warehouse in WW2, has anchored the Leczna-Wlodawa Lake District Museum since 1986; the complex (and museum) also includes a beit midrash originally built in the 18th century and reconstructed in the early 20th century, and a beit midrash from the 1920s.

Virtual Shtetl writes that the Great Synagogue

was erected between 1764 and 1771 thanks to the efforts of the kehilla and support of the Czartoryski family foundation. Its design was most probably created by Paweł Antoni Fontana. The synagogue was partially rebuilt at the end of the 18th century. A hundred years later a second storey and two corner annexes were built. The interior was reconstructed after a fire had destroyed it in 1934. During the occupation the synagogue was devastated by the Nazis and changed into a storehouse. In such a condition it survived until 1970. In the 1980s it was thoroughly renovated and the Museum of Łęczna and Włodawa Lake District was opened there in 1986. A display of Judaica enriched the permanent ethnographic in 1990.

There’s an exhibition of judaica in the Great Synagogue, but the key feature is the elaborately painted neo-Baroque ark, which dates from 1934 — the reconstruction of the synagogue after the devastating fire. Shtetl Routes writes:

The rich three-storey framework of the Torah ark is covered at the bottom with images of musical instruments and quotes from Psalm 150: Praise Him with the blast of the horn; praise Him with the psaltery and harp, Praise Him with the timbrel and dance; praise Him with stringed instruments and the pipe. Its central part features a bas-relief of a menorah and a quote from Psalm 5: I will bow down toward Thy holy temple in the fear of Thee. On the right, the hands of a kohen (Temple-serving priest) in the blessing gesture can be seen; on the left, there is a basket of fruit symbolising Shavuot. The frieze is topped with the date of construction of the aron ha-kodesh (1934) and two griffins flanking the tablets of the Ten Commandments, which were originally designed as windows through which “the light of the Torah” could shine. Seventeen concrete steps lead up to the niche for the Torah scroll, where today a Hanukah eight-branch candelabrum lit during the holiday of Hanukah also stands.

The smaller beit midrash has been restored in a way that shows the damage it underwent — with only a partial restoration of its wall paintings.

Its exhibit includes text and photographs that tell the story of the synagogues and Jewish community, and the hall is also used for events.

We wrote last year that regional authorities had authorized a more than 5 million zloty (€1.2 million) renovation including renovation of the Great Synagogue’s facade; replacement of roof, windows and doors; replacement of flashings and guttering; insulation of walls; and replacement of the heating system. The interior is not being touched.

Here is a photo gallery of some of the work that is going on.

See Shtetl Routes pages on Włodawa