Short history of the synagogue

Jewish synagogue was built in 1875 and served as the place of liturgy of the large Jewish community until WW2. On 22 June 1941 the building was attacked by Gestapo and local members of Vlajka (Flag) and was totally looted. The interior, organ, lustre, the divine service equipment, registers and Jewish emblems were destroyed. The ransacked building was poured on with petrol and put on fire. Since the attempt to burn down the building failed, it was repeated on 12 August. As firemen were banned from putting out the fire, the ransacked synagogue became a ruin. In November the ruins were bought out by town council for 30.000 crowns and destined for demolition.

After WW2 a decision was made not to pull the building down but to reconstruct it as a cultural centre - the seat of Moravian Slovak philharmonic orchestra, chorus Svatopluk and public library. The reconstruction was realized mainly due to the efforts of the members of the above mentioned institutions. The public library was opened in September 1951 and resided on the ground floor.

The original interior of the synagogue is represented only by supporting ornamented cast-iron pillars.

On 7 March 1966 the building burnt down. In the following two years the synagogue underwent another reconstruction and since that time the public library has been the user of the whole building. The ground floor was flooded and the building suffered substantial damage during massive floods in July 1997. Therefore another reconstruction of interior has been carried out between the years of 1998 and 1999. From 8 November 1999 the library again supplies its library services.

In 1999 the building of the former synagogue was proclaimed a Cultural Heritage Site. In September 2002 reconstruction of the facade has been finished. The facade is now bearing original colour and partly restored ornamental details.