The lamp,may be “eternal flame” according to one version of the Warsaw “Nozhik” synagogue It was acquired after in ...

The lamp,may be “eternal flame” according to one version of the Warsaw “Nozhik” synagogue It was acquired after in the store of old lighting fixtures founded in 1941 by Peter Melcharek. This store is just a hundred meters from the Nozhik synagogue. Brass, superbly finished, very heavy, weight 18 kg.

Warsaw Synagogue of Knives. As you know, Warsaw was almost destroyed during the Second World War. 85% of the city lay in ruins. The technical documentation of the buildings was also not preserved. The historical center was restored in the postwar period from postcards, photographs .... But Synagoga Nożyków is the only synagogue that miraculously survived. It was one of the five central synagogues of the pre-war city and one of about 400 synagogues in Warsaw. Indeed, before the war, about 300 thousand Jews lived in the capital of Poland. The building of this synagogue was also damaged, but only slightly. It was used by the Germans as a stable.

 The synagogue was built in 1898 - 1902 with the money of a childless and wealthy couple Zalman Nozhik - a well-known textile merchant and his wife Rivka Nozhik, which is why it is called the Nozhik Synagogue. To address issues related to the construction of the building, a commission was created that included the most respected members of the Jewish community of Warsaw. Alas, Zalman Nozhik lived only about a year after his Synagogue began to operate. The building was built in the Romanesque style and is decorated with Byzantine and Moorish patterns. In both parts of the synagogue (the male part on the ground floor and the female part - in the gallery) 600 people can simultaneously accommodate .

The synagogue was famous for its choir, consisting of men and young men, led by Abraham Zvi Davidovich. The choir accompanied the Khazan and performed works by famous authors. At different times, Shlomo Gershman (the younger brother of the famous Khazan Mordechai Gershman), Moshe Levinson and Gershon Sirota sang in the quality of the Khazans in this synagogue.

The synagogue opened after restoration in 1993 on the day of the 50th anniversary of the uprising of the Warsaw Ghetto on April 18. In the 90s, the synagogue was the target of anti-Semitic attacks, and in 1997 it was even set on fire and the building was damaged.

 Moshe Kosovitsky after the war held a requiem here for all Jews who died in the Holocaust, and this was in Warsaw, which was still completely destroyed. "In 1946, the Kosovitsky family returned to Poland, destroyed by the war. Hundreds of Warsaw synagogues were destroyed to the ground, as well as the whole city. Miraculously, only one survived - the Nozhik synagogue.

It is in it, in the presence of the chief rabbi, Eretz Yisrael Yitzhak Herzog, that the Azkara (commemoration) is held for millions of people who died in the Holocaust. This event was captured in the documentary of Nathan Gross, thanks to which it has survived to this day. I don’t know how professionally it’s hard to judge from the old, low-quality record, but there is no doubt that the performance by Kosovitsky “El Male Rahamim” is the emotional peak of his work, as a cantor, as a Jew, as a person.