| Bytom Synagogue | |
|---|---|
 The former synagoge inc. 1904 | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Reform Judaism(former) |
| Ecclesiastical or organisational status | Synagogue(1869–1938) |
| Status | Destroyed |
| Location | |
| Location | Beuthen,Province of Silesia(nowBytom) |
| Country | Germany(nowPoland) |
  Location of the former synagogue inGermany, as it was in 1937 | |
| Geographic coordinates | 50°20′52″N18°55′30″E / 50.347759°N 18.924964°E /50.347759; 18.924964 |
| Architecture | |
| Type | Synagogue architecture |
| Style | Moorish Revival |
| Destroyed | November 1938 (duringKristallnacht |
TheBytom Synagogue orBeuthen Synagogue was a formerReformJewish congregation andsynagogue, located in Beuthen, in the PrussianProvince of Silesia. The town is now located in present-dayBytom,Poland, a border–town betweenGermany and theSecond Polish Republic prior toGerman invasion of Poland inWorld War II. After theplebiscite of 1922, the border passed just east of Beuthen, so that neighboringKatowice was in Poland.
Built in 1869, the synagogue was destroyed byNazis on November 9, 1938, duringKristallnacht.
The Beuthen Jewish Community was one of twenty-five Jewish communities of the district ofOppeln, established in the city of Beuthen. The community comprised a Jewish primary school supported by the city, a religious school, 13 charitable societies, and four institutions,[1][2] prior to the German invasion of Poland. Jews lived there from 1421.[3] Despite the separation of Beuthen, and the neighbouringKatowice (Poland), the area was kept as an economic unit, with guarantees on the movement of goods, material, and labour.
The Jewish population of Beuthen during the inter-war period was approximately 3,500 (according to Mokotov) or 5,000 according to a former resident, who recalls that approximately 4,000 Jews left Beuthen between 1933 and 1939. On November 7, 1938,Joseph Goebbels delivered a fieryanti-Semitic tirade in Beuthen, with a call for vengeance.[citation needed]
During World War II, Beuthen's Jews, numbering approximately 1,300,[4][5] became the firstHolocaust transport to be gassed inside "Bunker I" atAuschwitz-Birkenaudeath camp, all murdered on 15 February 1942 at the onset of theNazi GermanHolocaust in Poland.[6][7][8]
Beuthen Synagogue was built in 1869 onFriedrich-Wilhelm-Ring (now Plac Grunwaldzki), in place of an older one. The cornerstone was set on May 25, 1868, construction finished on July 2, 1869. Max Kopfstein (1856–1924) fromBad Ems becamerabbi and religion teacher there in 1889.Chief Rabbi from 1919, he participated in the negotiations of theTreaty of Versailles as an expert in matters concerning the Jewish population inUpper Silesia.
The synagogue was burned down by Nazi GermanSS andSA troopers during theKristallnacht on 9–10 November 1938. Members of the congregation were made to stand for hours in front of their burningMoorish Revival synagogue. A memorial plaque at the site was erected on November 9, 2007.
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