The history of the Jewish Synagogue of Vranov

The construction of the Jewish synagogue began in 1921. Although the Orthodox Jewish religious community of Vranov bought the land in 1897, the construction hadn’t started until much later, due to a lack of money to build a decent building. The construction only started with the financial help of Mikuláš Schwartz, an American citizen originally from Vranov, who visited our city after WWI. When he saw the condition of the original synagogue, he decided to donate $10,000 to help build a new one. It was such a vast amount of money, that the Jewish community of Vranov had also managed to build a new mikvah. According to the census, 649 Jews lived in the town at that time, making up 28.3% of the 2,282 citizens of Vranov.

Architect Vojtech Šípoš designed the construction project, and the company of Hugo Kaboš was entrusted with the implementation. The company of the Barkányi brothers participated in the finishing touches of the synagogue itself, and also the spa construction in 1924. A slightly elevated wide staircase led to the synagogue, and the whole area was enclosed by concrete fencing. Three separate entrances led to the vestibule of the synagogue. Staircases on the left and right of the hall led to the balcony with a room for women. The Ark of the Covenant was located on the east side of the building with its internal dimensions of 16×16 meters.

From an architectural point of view, the building itself can’t be classified as an example of any specific period style, although it stood out among surrounding buildings with its grandeur. With its towers extending above the roof of the dome, the building towered majestically on the slope and was visible from the village of Čemerné. The building was also visually attractive because of its oriental architectural elements embellishing both interior and exterior facades.

The structurally impressive dome was supported by four bundled columns. The segmented space reminded a three-nave ship. The middle nave ended with a large, circular window with a six-pointed star. The same motif was used on the facade of the building with atypical external proportions. The external width of the building was 19 meters in the back, 21 meters at the front and the length of the building was 24 meters with a maximum height of 11 meters. The synagogue also included a ceremonial Jewish bath – a mikvah, and a bather’s apartment. The bather in 1941 was Eizig Bornstein.

A Jewish Orthodox school of the Vranov community was not that far away from the synagogue. Herman and Salomon Stern were teaching religion there in 1941. Behind the school, there was an apartment of the rabbi and a Jewish slaughterhouse. Upon completion, the synagogue became the center of the religious and cultural life of the Jews of Vranov. The last rabbi of the Orthodox Jews was Lazarar Ehrengruber and the last rabbi of the Hasidic Jews was Eduard Halberstam. Mór Rosenwasser was the churchman. Services were held every evening and Saturday morning. However, there had to be at least ten adult men present.

The building served its purpose shortly after the Second World War, but later it was used only as a warehouse and in the end, there was no one interested in using its premises, so the building slowly began to decay. Children and youth also damaged it. The designing process of a new housing neighborhood Okulka led to the planning of demolition of the synagogue, which was a huge mistake from today’s point of view. The building that could have been reconstructed, could serve as a multicultural facility with great acoustics for today and future generations. Unfortunately, the building was demolished in September 1982.