Then local district administration has taken over ownership of the former synagogue in Barczewo, in northeast Poland near Olsztyn, so that it can carry out restoration of the building as a district cultural center.
The synagogue, with a flat roof and large arched windows, was built in 1896 and closed for worship and sold to private owners in 1937. It survived WW2 and is the only standing synagogue building in the local Warmia region.
It has been administered as an art gallery since 1980 by the Pojezierze Social and Cultural Association. Under an agreement with the district, Pojezierze will continue to run a gallery there, but under district ownership the building will be expanded into a broader, inter communal cultural center that will host concerts, meetings, and other events.
“In the district, we have several real historical and architectural gems that deserve to be restored to their splendor,” Joanna Michalska, deputy district board chair (deputy Starost), said in a statement on the Olsztyn district government web site.
One of them is the building of the synagogue in Barczewo, which our local government wants to restore, so that it will continue to bear witness to the colorful history and inhabitants of these lands, and also to serve the next generations. Until now, we have not had a facility in our property resources where we could organize our own cultural events and other meetings.
She said the building’s renovation needs were a key reason for the district to take over.
“For 40 years, the synagogue was under the care of […] “Pojezierze” […], which ran the Art Gallery here,” Michalska said. “This will not change because we have concluded a lending agreement with the association so that it can continue its statutory activities.
However, the building requires renovation, which is associated with considerable financial outlays. For many years, the “Pojezierze” took care that the synagogue would not collapse by obtaining funds for, among others, the replacement of electric systems or old windows. As a local government, however, we have greater opportunities to obtain funds, even as a supporting member in the international Cittaslow network. One of the most important needs today is to provide heating in the synagogue so that it can be used effectively throughout the year, and not only in the summer season, as it is today.
Watch a drone video of the synagogue:
“During Kristallnacht, the Star of David was removed from the synagogue,” Krystyna Szter, who heads Pojezierze said in the web site state,emt.
The building survived because it was in Aryan hands, but it was stripped by the Red Army, which took Barczewo on January 30, 1945. In the 1970s, the building was taken over by the Museum of Warmia and Mazury, and in 1980 by the Social and Cultural Association “Pojezierze” in Olsztyn. Now the host is the local government of the Olsztyn [district], which gives an opportunity to expand the current activity of the synagogue, which is a testimony to the multicultural history of Warmia
See the statement on the district government web site