(JHE) — The fate of the early 19th century synagogue building in the Fordon district of Bydgoszcz, in northern Poland, remains uncertain after it failed to be sold at two auctions in recent months. A third auction is planned, maybe later this spring.
Unlike former synagogues recently up for auction in Belarus that we wrote about, the former synagogue in Fordon is in a more central location and appears to be in fairly good condition, as it underwent city-funded partial restoration a decade ago when there were plans to convert it into a cultural space. It has been listed on the regional register of historic monuments since 1991.
The Bydgoszcz Tax Office first put the synagogue up for auction in November, with a starting price of 947,000 złoty (around €205,000). As no bids were presented, a second auction was held in early March, with the starting price lowered to 662,900 złoty (around €143,000). But no bids were offered at this auction, either.
The building was put up for auction after the city expropriated it to cover unpaid debts that its owner, the Casimir the Great University Foundation, which is no longer active (and not associated with the university), had incurred with the local municipality.
Local media reported that Bartosz Stróżyński, spokesman for the Tax Administration Chamber of Bydgoszcz, said a third auction could be held later this spring. If it doesn’t sell this time, the sale of the synagogue will be put on hold for one year, after which the Tax Office may carry out new auctions.
According to local media, the Bydgoszcz municipality has already made known that it is not interested in buying the property.
The neo-classical synagogue was built in 1827-28, when Fordon was an independent town on the Visula river (it was absorbed by Bydgoszcz in 1973), and it served the local community until 1939. Under the Nazi occupation, it was used as a movie theatre. After WWII, the building’s interior was remodeled, and it continued to serve as a cinema until 1988.
The condition of the building deteriorated through the 1990s, although it was used for some cultural events and there were plans to turn it into a culture center.
It was restituted to the Foundation for the Protection of Jewish Heritage (FODZ), which in 2004 donated it to a local NGO, the Yakiza Foundation, which, with major grants from the city and region, began to carry out restoration work aimed at transforming the synagogue into an arts center. This included renovation of the roof and walls. The building’s ownership passed on to the Casimir the Great University Foundation in 2013.
Ahead of the first auction in November, the president of the Lovers of Old Fordon Association, an NGO devoted to the revitalization of the Old Fordon district, told local media that the NGO did not have the funds to purchase the synagogue. He also said that, while the exterior of the building was in good condition following the earlier renovations, considerable work remained to be done inside the building. He estimated this could amount to 5 million zloty (about €1 million).
Click to read a history of the synagogue (in English)