The first day of the occupation in Olomouc brought destruction to the local synagogue

Olomouc - This week, the residents of Olomouc will commemorate the 80th anniversary of the arson of the Olomouc synagogue by Czech fascists. The sanctuary, built in 1897 and the then center of Jewish life in Olomouc, was destroyed on the first day of the Nazi occupation. Local fascists set fire to the building, constructed in the then fashionable Oriental-Byzantine style, on the night of March 15-16, 1939. The synagogue, which stood at its location for only four decades, was never restored in the city. In its place, there is now a parking lot, the proceeds from which fund the local Jewish community.

The fire in the synagogue was started at night, and firefighters battled it until the afternoon of March 16. The wooden parts of the main dome and the interior furnishings were primarily damaged. "The Olomouc Jewish synagogue was safely set ablaze by Czech fascists. The Germans were present but did not allow the firefighters to arrive quickly... I remember it; we were with my mother across the street on Mlýnská Street, and we could see the smoke. I was six years old at the time," said Olomouc historian Milan Tichák to ČTK.

He added that the beginning of the occupation was accompanied by noise and chaos in the streets of Olomouc even the evening before, on March 14, when local Henleinists were drumming and singing in Pavlovičky, Povlu, and Nové Sady. "Our authorities no longer dared to intervene. It was an ugly day, snow was falling, large wet flakes, it was desperate; people were crying, scared about what would happen," noted the historian.

According to representatives of the Olomouc Jewish community, the fire itself was merely a pretext for the demolition of the synagogue, which was soon ordered by the city. Cleanup work lasted until March 1940. "The original synagogue had stained-glass windows and benches preserved, which are on display at the synagogue in Loštice," said the chairman of the Jewish Community of Olomouc, Petr Papoušek, to ČTK.

The hatred towards Jews, which escalated with the arson of the synagogue on the very first day of the occupation, according to historian Tichák, had been forming long before that. "Jews were wealthy, engaged in banking, and there was enormous solidarity among them. They formed a community that sparked envy, and from that came the hatred towards them," Tichák added. "Since the 1930s, anti-Jewish sentiments had been growing and intensifying in Germany and other areas. Just a year earlier, in November 1938, synagogues burned on Kristallnacht in the Sudetenland," added Papoušek.

The Olomouc synagogue was never rebuilt, although there were occasional opinions that it should be. "For us, it would only be the construction of a museum. The original synagogue had 700 seats, and our community now has 150 members; that space corresponded to a completely different community before the war than it does now. Moreover, it would cost an enormous amount of money that we do not have. On the site of the original synagogue, we now operate a parking lot, from which we fund the operation of the Jewish community," added Papoušek. The Jewish community center on Komenského Street now serves as a meeting place for Olomouc Jews.

The Olomouc synagogue was built between 1895 and 1897 according to the design of prominent Viennese architect Jakob Gartner. "The magnificent structure was built by local firms at a cost of a quarter of a million crowns," states the Jewish Community of Olomouc on its website. The building had an impressive appearance, standing almost 40 meters tall. It also boasted a rich interior decoration, with 440 seats for men and 304 for women. Later, a park was created on its site, where a stone statue of Lenin and Stalin stood during the communist era. Today this space serves as a car park. The history of the synagogue is commemorated in the city by a memorial plaque on the adjacent Faculty of Science building on Svobody Street.

In connection with the anniversary of the synagogue's fire, the Jewish Community of Olomouc is preparing a memorial gathering on March 20 at Palach Square.