bg Zrenjanin

Veliki Bečkerek Synagogue

- Jevrejska 4 -
The construction of the building, which was built for religious purposes, lasted from 1894 until 1896. The building, which was modeled after the synagogue in , was built according to a design of the Hungarian architect , who was known as a builder of synagogues, as he designed 23 of them throughout the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. It was ceremonially consecrated on August 17, 1896, for the 66th birthday of Emperor of Austria.
The interior
At the beginning of the , in the spring of 1941, after the fascist troops entered what was then Petrovgrad, the first victim of the occupiers was the Jew Viktor Elek, the owner of the Sugar Factory, who was shot on April 24, 1941. Soon after, after valuables were taken out of it, the synagogue was demolished by the Nazi occupiers. Among the valuables from the synagogue, is the organ, which was bought from the German authorities by the leaders of the , where it is still located today. The peak of fascist terror came on August 18, 1941, when almost the entire Jewish population of our city disappeared in just one day.
The building during its demolition
The basis of the external appearance was the three-nave Neo-Moorish building with a vestibule, from the center of which rose a dome with a polygonal base and a lantern tower on top of it. In addition, the building also featured two smaller domes and several more . The facade was multi-colored, with surfaces in yellow brick and plastered surfaces on which , , and windows were placed, some of which contained a Star of David.
The building in an old colorized photo