Krnov Synagogue

The Krnov Synagogue is a synagogue in Krnov (German: Jägerndorf), Czech Republic.

Krnov Synagogue in 2015

The synagogue, also called the temple, was built in 1871. It is located at 28, Barvířská Street near Soukenická Street (formerly Tempelring, then Tuchmacherring, then Gottwaldova třída [třída = avenue]). The exterior of the building with twin towers and round-arched windows is in an eclectic, round-arched, Rundbogenstil neo-romantic style; while the interior is Moorish Revival, especially the wooden carved coffered ceiling (painted in reddish brown) and the arcade of the women's galleries. It is one of only three surviving synagogues in the Moravia-Silesia Region (the others are at Nový Jičín and Český Těšín.) [1]

How the Krnov Synagogue was saved in 1938

The Krnov Synagogue stopped to be used for religious services in autumn 1938, when the Sudetenland was incorporated into Nazi Germany. Not long afterwards, on November 9, 1938, almost all synagogues in the surrounding towns - as anywhere in Nazi Germany - were destroyed during the Reichskristallnacht prosecution.

However, the Krnov synagogue was saved. End of October 1938, the mayor of Jägerndorf, Oskar König, had received a secret order from Berlin to destroy and burn down the synagogue of his town on November 9. Unwilling to comply, he summoned a meeting of the councillors and informed them about the order he had received. The Sudeten councillors then unanimously accepted the proposal of the builder Franz Irblich to deceive the Nazis: They decided to remove all symbols of the Jewish religion from the building and change it into a town market hall, reporting to Berlin that there was no synagogue in Jägerndorf which could be destroyed.[2] As such the building was used until the end of World War II in 1945.

The Synagogue after 1945

After WWII the German population of Jägerndorf was expelled and the building of the synagogue was first used as a warehouse, than as a regional archive. In July 1997 it was damaged by a flood, two years later it was finally returned to the Jewish community in Olomouc (German: Olmütz) with no Jewish community in Krnov (Jägerndorf) existing anymore. Between 2003 and 2014 it was thoroughly renovated. Today, credit is given to Franz Irblich to be the savior of the synagogue also by the now Czech town of Krnov. In 1946, Irblich had received a 10 years sentence by a Czechoslovak extraordinary court after accusations of being a Nazi.[3]

Images
The Gallery
The Gallery
Old Copper Dome. The copper domes have been replaced
View take from scaffolding erected while the synagogue was being restored
One of the towers
One of the towers
Stairs leading to the gallery

Literatur
  • Badenheuer, Konrad / Heller, Wilfried: Notiz zur Rettung der Synagoge von Jägerndorf (Krnov). [Notice on how the Jägerndorf (Krnov) Synagogue was Saved] in: Heller, Wilfried (Editor): Jüdische Spuren im ehemaligen Sudetenland. [Jewish Relicts in the former Sudetenland] Verlag Inspiration Un Limited, London/Berlin 2019, ISBN 978-3-945127-26-1, p. 157–164 [In German].
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References
  1. "Tvoříme webové stránky - WEBHOUSE, s. r.o.: Titulní stránka". english.krnov.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 2018-02-20.
  2. http://www.infokrnov.cz/en/points-of-ineterests-in-krnov/24-krnovska-synagoga
  3. Helmut Irblich: Die Synagoge von Jägerndorf [The Krnov Synagogue], Schweinfurt 2001 (2nd edition 2018), p. 8-13

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