The Feast of Lights or the Feast of the Rededication of the Jerusalem Temple. Hanukkah begins in Sunday evening. A new candle shines every evening on an eight-branch candlestick. The holiday itself refers to historical events connected with the victorious battle of the Maccabees over the Syrian-Greek king Antiochus-Epiphanes IV. These should have taken place in 167 BC.
The zeroth year of the From Synagogue to Church event was organized by the Central Union of Jewish Religious Communities in Slovakia and the Roman Catholic Church - Žilina Diocese. The event was held under the auspices of the chairman of the Trenčín self-governing region, Jaroslav Baška, who completed the cycle tour himself.
On Friday, September 9, 2022, the city of Trenčín joined the second year of the all-Slovak event called "Nezabudnuti susedia". At 10:00 a.m., sirens and bells rang out in the cities involved, which opened the commemoration ceremony on the occasion of the "Day of the Victims of the Holocaust and Racial Violence".
The Trenčín Synagogue is one of the most remarkable works in Slovakia from the beginning of the 20th century. However, synagogues can be found in many other cities and states. It is true that each of them is unique and original. For example, in China you can see synagogues with pagoda roofs, in Oriental countries they resemble mosques, in Europe Romanesque or Gothic churches. Synagogues are diverse and their architecture often reflects the specifics of a given part of the world. You would not find two identical Jewish temples in Slovakia either. But what unites them?
The Trenčín Synagogue is one of the buildings that will be part of an important publication. Hungarian Museum of Architecture in Budapest currently works on it. His representatives visited the Trenčín synagogue this week to document it photographically. "We are preparing a publication about synagogues in the former Kingdom of Hungary. It will include three synagogues in Slovakia, in Lučenec, Košice and Trenčín, "said art historian Ágnes Ivett Oszkó. They plan to release the work later this year.
In the Census of Population, Homes and Dwellings 2021, 2007 inhabitants subscribed to the Jewish religion in the Slovak Republic. "The community used to be significantly more numerous in our territory, but the Holocaust and long-term manifestations of hatred have significantly reduced it in our territory," recalls spokeswoman Jasmína Stauder.
An article about the Trenčín Synagogue has been added to the website of the Monuments Office of the Slovak Republic. It was written by KPÚ Trenčín employees, with whom we work closely within our project. We bring you the article in its entirety:
International Holocaust Remembrance Day was declared by the UN General Assembly on 1. November 2005. The date to commemorate the millions is 27. January. It was on that day in 1945 that the Red Army liberated the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp. By the time the troops entered it, they found 7,600 prisoners who had survived the horrors of the concentration camp.
The Jewish religious in Trenčín has launched a public procurement for construction works that will address the reconstruction of the Trenčín synagogue. The estimated value of the contract is 1,607,436.07 eur excluding VAT. The deadline for submission of bids is 7 January 2022.
The synagogue is one of the key partners of a project. The valuable victory of Trenčín comes at a time when culture is going through an extremely difficult period.
The head of the international jury, Paulina Florjanowicz, announced the decision on Friday, 10. December, shortly after 4 p.m. The city of Trenčín received the title of European Capital of Culture 2026. This happened after almost two years of intensive training and two selection rounds. Apart from Trenčín, Nitra and Žilina also competed in the final eight places.
