Work is continuing on the restoration of the synagogue in Orla, northeast Poland — and its owner, the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland (FODZ) has posted a video on Facebook summarizing recent developments. It’s in Polish with English subtitles:
The synagogue, FODZ writes on its web site, was built in the second quarter of the 17th century, but archaeological research has revealed that a small wooden synagogue had stood in the same place earlier. :
About 100 years after the foundation of the synagogue, women’s galleries were added on each side of the building: wooden at first, and then made of brick. The synagogue combines Renaissance and Baroque styles. In the 19th century, the building was given a classical facade with a frieze resting on two columns. Unfortunately, the furnishings of the synagogue, including the large aron ha-kodesh, have not survived. Still, preserved to this day are remnants of colourful polychrome wall paintings with vegetal and animal motifs, as well as four columns surrounding the place where the bimah stood. Before the war, the square in front of the synagogue was called the school square, and the synagogue complex also included two wooden houses of prayer, the rabbi’s house, and a mikveh. All the buildings burned down in a great fire that swept Orla in 1938.
Fitful restoration has been going on since the 1980s, and the synagogue already hosts concerts and other events, including an arts festival in 2021 and a Jewish culture festival last month called “Shalom, Despite Everything.”.
Watch a video about the 2021 arts festival:
There is a crowdfunding site to contribute to the restoration.
And you can take a virtual tour of the synagogue by clicking here.
