Żarki, the synagogue, 2008

The photograph from Wojciech Wilczyk’s project “The Innocent Eye Does Not Exist” presents the western façade of the former synagogue in Żarki, now the City Community Centre.

The synagogue was erected in 1870 and its architecture combined elements of the Moorish and Neo-Romanesque styles. It is a one-storey rectangular building built of limestone and ceramic bricks. On the side elevations, there were two rows of rectangular windows (six in each row) with semicircular-arched top edge. Four windows of the same shape and single oculi (circular-shaped windows) were also on the western and eastern façades. Additionally, in the west façade, there was a double window stylised as the Tables of Commandments. Also the apse – a narrow extension on a polygonal plan, intended for the Aron Kodesh (cabinet for Torah scrolls) – had narrow window openings.The interior of the synagogue was designed in a longitudinal arrangement – in its eastern part, there was a prayer room for men with a centrally placed bimah (platform for reading the Torah), a cantor’s desk and the Aron Kodesh; in the northern part, there was a vestibule and, above it, the women’s gallery (the so-called babiniec) open into the main hall.

During World War II, the synagogue was damaged during the bombing and later devastated. In the years 1955–1957, the Social Committee for the Reconstruction of Żarki carried out a renovation of the building, adapting it to the use as a community centre. During the works, the western façade was significantly changed, the building was extended towards the east, and a high free-standing chimney was added to it.

The photograph was taken by Wojciech Wilczyk on 4 December 2008 within the framework of the project “There’s no Such Thing as an Innocent Eye” (see W. Wilczyk, „Niewinne oko nie istnieje. There’s no Such Thing as an Innocent Eye”, Łódź 2009). A year later, the authorities of Żarki began the renovation of the building. An article about the history of Jews in Żarki can be found at: https://sztetl.org.pl/en/towns/z/432-zarki/99-history/138336-history-of-community.

Krzysztof Bielawski