Great Synagogue Bialystok

The synagogue had a ten-metre-high dome, as well as two smaller decorative domes on the sides and above the side halls. The large dome was supported by several columns made of steel and concrete. It combined different architectural styles, but mainly a neo-Gothic and Byzantine style was used.

In the synagogue, the women attended the service together with the men, albeit in separate halls that surrounded the main prayer hall on three sides. The house of worship had a choir and an organ, and in the interwar period national holidays were celebrated there, with the synagogue being visited on these occasions by municipal authorities such as the mayor or the governor of the region. The last official rabbi of Białystok, Dr. Gedali Rozenman, sang the Polish national anthem Mazurek Dąbrowskiego after the prayer and the playing of the Jewish anthem Hatikvah .

The synagogue's size and prestige attracted chasanim from all over Poland as well as from neighboring countries. During the Passover of 1934, 14 chasanim offered their services to the synagogue administration.

On the morning of June 27, 1941, soldiers from Police Battalion 309 surrounded the town square near the synagogue and forced residents out of their homes onto the street. 300 men were placed against walls and shot. About 800 men and some women and children were locked in the synagogue, which was set on fire shortly afterwards;[5] they died in the flames. Afterwards, the soldiers threw grenades at the houses and shot more people.

According to statements from the Białystok memorial book, many people opened the wrists of their friends and neighbors to spare them the ordeal. One young man, who was not overcome by the smoke, climbed to a window inside the chancel, where he broke windows and cursed the soldiers watching the scene. He was shot and fell from the window, but survived. The Polish janitor of the synagogue was eventually able to get into the building and open a side door, allowing some Jews to escape, including the young man.

Text from Wikipedia