When Pope Francis visited Slovakia this week, he met with representatives of the Slovak Jewish community in one of the most significant and symbolic places of Jewish history in the country: Bratislava’s Rybné Square, the site where the grand, twin-towered Neolog synagogue stood next to the Roman Catholic cathedral until the communist regime destroyed it the late 1960s; it’s the site today of the country’s main Holocaust memorial.
“I have come as a pilgrim, to visit this place and be moved by it,” the pope said during his visit Monday (Sept. 13).
This Square is a highly meaningful place for your community. It keeps alive the memory of a rich history. For centuries it was part of the Jewish quarter. Here the celebrated rabbi Chatam Sofer laboured. Here a synagogue stood alongside the Cathedral of the Coronation. The architectural setting, as we heard, was an expression of the peaceful coexistence of the two communities, an unusual and evocative symbol, and a striking sign of unity in the name of the God of our fathers. Here, like so many of them, I too feel the desire to “remove my sandals” in a place blessed by human fraternity in the name of the Most High.
We’ve written in the past about the site and its symbolism — and about the several ways the ornate, Moorish-style synagogue has been re-evoked to both commemorate and educate.
The synagogue was built alongside the cathedral in 1893, based on the designs of architect Dezső (Dionyz) Milch. It was demolished when the communist regime built a major bridge and highway right through what had been the historic Jewish quarter of the city, razing most of the district — in his speech Sept. 13, the pope described this as “an effort to eradicate every trace of the community.”
Watch a video of the destruction:
With the fall of communism in 1989, young activists painted a big picture of the synagogue right on the pavement of Rybné square where it had stood, with the angry caption “Here there stood a synagogue!”
A few years later, a memorial to the more than 100,000 Slovak Jews murdered in the Holocaust was built on the spot, incorporating a silhouette of the destroyed building. The memorial also includes a sculpture in the middle of the square.
Years later, in 2012, a two-thirds scale replica of the synagogue, made of scaffolding and canvas, was erected on the spot temporarily as part of a memorial project sponsored by the Slovak-Israel Chamber of Commerce.
And in 2019, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the destruction of the synagogue, the Bratislava Jewish community unveiled a virtual reconstruction of the synagogue, with an onsite exhibit that incorporated digital augmented reality.
Online, you can “visit” the streets and neighborhood surrounding the synagogue as well as the synagogue itself — inside and out. The visuals are accompanied by a sound track — street sounds as well as cantorial singing.
In addition, you can click on certain delineated spots to learn about the history of the synagogue and the community as well as some of the personalities who contributed to its construction, such as its architect.
Today, the square is not just the site of commemorations marking the Holocaust, but it also forms the backdrop for celebrations of Jewish life by the local Jewish community — such as annual public menorah lightings at Hanukkah, which the pope also mentioned in his speech:
This Square, dear brothers and sisters, is also a place where the light of hope shines forth. Each year you come here during Hanukkah to light the first lamp on the menorah. Darkness is dispelled by the message that destruction and death do not have the last word, but rather renewal and life. Though the synagogue on this site was torn down, the community remains present. A community alive and open to dialogue. In this place, our histories meet once more. Here let us affirm together before God our willingness to persevere on the path of rapprochement and friendship.
Click to watch a video of the entire ceremony
2 comments on “Slovakia: Pope Francis met with Slovak Jews in a highly symbolic place: the site where Bratislava’s grand Neolog synagogue stood until the communist regime destroyed it the late 1960s. Now the site is a both a Holocaust memorial and site of Hanukkah celebrations”
Amen
Bless those who perished and those who never forgot them. May their memory be a blessing