Piaskower Synagoge

Piaskower Synagogue
Piaskower Synagogue
Polish: Synagoga Piaskower
	The former synagogue in 2017
Religion
Affiliation	Orthodox Judaism (former)
Rite	Nusach Ashkenaz
Ecclesiastical or organisational status	Synagogue (1893–1939); Communal use (1945–1968); Profane use (since 1968);
Status	Abandoned;; Repurposed;
Location
Location	3 Piękna Street, Białystok, Podlaskie Voivodeship
Country	Poland
	Location of the former synagogue; in Podlaskie Voivodeship
Geographic coordinates	53°07′45″N 23°09′14″E / 53.129111°N 23.154000°E
Architecture
Type	Synagogue architecture
Date established	c. 1820 (as a congregation)
Groundbreaking	1891
Completed	1893
Materials	Brick

The Piaskower Synagogue (Polish: Synagoga Piaskower) is a former Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 3 Piękna Street, in the Piaski district of Białystok, in the Podlaskie Voivodeship of Poland.

Completed in 1893, the former synagogue served as a place of worship until desecrated by Nazis during World War II. After the war, the former synagogue served as a community center for Jews living in Białystok until 1968, and following a fire in 1989, the building has been used for profane purposes since 1995.^[1]^[2]

History

The synagogue was constructed from 1891 to 1893 on the site of an earlier wooden synagogue which had been built around 1820.

During the German occupation of Poland in World War II, the synagogue was partially destroyed. From 1945 to 1968, it was the seat of various Białystok Jewish organisations, such as the Socio-cultural Association of Jews in Poland. From 1968, the building was no longer used for specifically Jewish purposes, instead being used as a cinema and a theatre. Renovation work in the 1970s removed the distinctive features that marked it as a synagogue and it burnt down in 1989.^[2]

In 1995, the structure was renovated. It is currently the headquarters of the Ludwik Zamenhof Foundation, which sells text-books and literature on Esperanto and offers Esperanto language courses.^[2]