Katowice is a city in southern Poland, which was part of Prussia and then Germany until 1921. The Jewish community grew from 12 in 1840 to over 9,000 in 1932. At the start of the war, the Jewish population was about 8,500 (6.3 of the total population).
During the first three months of the German occupation, the entire Jewish population was forced to leave the city. Most settled in nearby Sosnowiec and suffered the fate of that ghetto (most of the persons in that ghetto were ultimately sent to death at Auschwitz).
The synagogue depicted in the postcards below was built in 1900 and follows a Byzantine plan which was popular at the time featuring a dome or cupola in the center. Although such domes were costly and acoustically unreliable, they were popular because of the dramatic effect on the skyline and interior grandeur.
Postcard mailed 1906
Unused Postcard prior to 1921
Encyclopedia Judaica, CD Rom Edition, Keter Publishing
Carole Herselle Krinsky, Synagogues of Europe, P. 80 & 128
Mogilanski, The Ghetto Anthology, 263
Copyright © 1998-99 Edward Victor
