Mała Synagoga

Currently, the Small Synagogue houses the Museum of Masovian Jews. The two-story synagogue was built in the classical style in the mid-nineteenth century. Inside, we watch a permanent exhibition about the culture and history of the local commune, of course, about the Holocaust. The quarter of houses forms the former Jewish quarter. You can see here both the old buildings and modern buildings, which, however, were designed without harm to the existing urban substance.

Former synagogue

Interesting place

Construction of the synagogue began in 1810. However, it lasted a very long time, because the work was interrupted by a conflict with Bishop Adam Michał Prażmowski, who believed that it was too close to the Cathedral Basilica of the Blessed Virgin Mary. After several years of conflict, the synagogue was completed and officially opened - it is assumed that it was open as early as 1820, although in some sources it appears in 1822. At that time, it was in a bad technical condition. The reason for this was not only the many years of stagnation in the construction of the building, but also its partial location on the former medieval defensive moat of the city. One corner was on load-bearing ground and there were problems already during construction, because the building was uneven. In the side rooms of the synagogue there were also: a religious school, the seat of the Jewish community and, for some time, the rabbi's apartment. In 1839, due to the terrible technical condition, it was supposed to be plastered by the governor's decision. However, it happened only in 1857, when the building obtained the appearance that has been preserved to this day. Only the roof covering has changed. In the past, there were heavy S-tile roof tiles, during World War I they were replaced by sheet metal, which was lighter and did not burden such a damaged roof structure. During World War II, the Nazis completely devastated the interior of the synagogue. From December 1939, the seat of the Judenrat was located in the commune offices. After the end of the war, on February 22, 1945, the first meeting of the Płock Jews was held in the building. 22 people attended the meeting. At that time, the authorities were asked to legalize the Jewish Committee in Płock, which was trying to designate the Great Synagogue as a memorial room. The idea, however, did not materialize. In 1949, the Committee allocated the synagogue to the Krawiecko-Dziewiarsko-Pończosznicza Cooperative Gerszon Dua-Bogen, which was in the building until 1994. In 1960, a land and mortgage register was established, in which the State Treasury was registered as the owner of the synagogue by prescription. At that time, the name of the cooperative was also changed. In 1962 it was entered in the register of monuments.