
The present
building is the work of the Horowitz family. In 1535 Aaron Meshullam
Horowitz had it built beween his house "U Erbů" and the site
of the Old Jewish Cemetery. After the Second World War, the synagogue
was turned into a Memorial to the Jews of Bohemia and Moravia murdered
by the Nazis. On its walls are inscribed the names of the Jewish victims,
their personal data, and the names of the communities to which they
belonged. In 1968, however, the Memorial had to be closed because ground
water had penetrated the building´s foundations, thus endangering the
structure. During work on the underground waterproofing of the building,
a discovery was made of vaulted spaces with an ancient well and ritual
bath. The Communist regime deliberately held up renovation work and
the inscriptions were removed. Not until 1990 was it possible to complete
the building alterations. Finally, in 1992-1994, the 80,000 names of
the Jewish victims of Bohemia and Moravia were rewritten on its walls.
EXHIBITION:
Memorial
to the Jewish Victims of the Holocaust from Bohemia and Moravia
Children´s Drawings from Terezín 1942-1944