A synagogue in the city of Halem in Poland was recently offered for sale for a huge sum of 4.5 million zlotys (about 3.5 million shekels).
Investment real estate that entitles the new owners to tax breaks.
In addition to the synagogue, the rabbi's house located next to it is also offered for sale.
The total area is approximately 800 square meters. The building currently has two restaurants, an event room and a meeting room, along with commercial and service areas and office space for rent. Now, Jewish activists are making efforts to prevent the sale, which means the disappearance of another synagogue in Poland.
The seller of the building markets the building convincingly.
Since it is a building of cultural importance, the seller will be able to request that the costs of purchasing the land and renovation be tax deductible, which optimizes the tax for investors.
Thanks to the local tax regulations, which allow concessions for new investors, the buyers will also benefit from an exemption from property tax.
Reconstruction of a wooden synagogue in a museum in Poland, photo: AP/Archive
From the point of view of the seller, the structure also has added value from a cultural point of view.
The property is a former Jewish synagogue and the rabbi's home, located in the city center of Halam.
Thanks to this, the building can be recognized in the city and in the world among the Jewish communities.
Before World War II, the Jewish community in Helem made up half of the residents.
Today, tours from Israel come to the city and the former synagogue, which may be a business opportunity for an investor.
These tours also include a visit to the death camp in Sobibor, the Jewish cemetery in Helem and the route of the death march that starts in the square next to the synagogue.
From the building that is offered for sale in the city of Halam, photo: "Autodom" website
This is a building located at the corner of Kopernica and Kariva streets.
During the Holocaust the building was destroyed and then used as a warehouse.
The great synagogue of Halam, which stood on the other side of the street, was blown up by the Nazis.
In the 1980s, the building was taken over by the highest technical organization in Poland, which after a thorough renovation was adapted as the House of Technology.
As of 2004, the synagogue served as a conference center and restaurant - privately owned.
Jewish activists in Poland point out that the Halacha explicitly states how to behave in cases of the sale of a synagogue.
"First of all, a new synagogue must be bought from the proceeds of the sale and in a place that will serve the members of the community. Second, it must not be allowed to carry out activities in the synagogue structure that could insult or harm the Jewish religion. And third, the ones who can do this are the ones who own the synagogue," the activists explain. .
According to them, "a paradoxical situation has arisen, that those who were the owners of the synagogue were murdered in the Holocaust. Their heirs are not allowed to make any determination regarding the fate of the synagogues, because those who took over the ownership of the synagogues are foreigners who use the synagogues as an asset to generate real estate profits while A clear and explicit disregard for the sanctity of the synagogue. Not only that, there is no way to know what will happen to the funds received from the synagogues and it is clear that no other synagogue will be built from the funds received."
"The saint did not go"
"The synagogue is a house of God. It was built by the members of the community who bought and built the synagogue with their own money while giving the synagogue sanctity. Although those community members are no longer alive, the sanctity did not go with them and this is a house of God that was given to God and not to the businessmen, whatever There will be. Unfortunately, not only will we desecrate these synagogues these days because they are used as restaurants, pubs, grocery stores, souvenir shops, event halls, etc., the person who owns them does not deserve it," says Meir Bolka, chairman of Organization C Yanreishens who told about the sale of the synagogue to "Israel Today".
"There are more than 100 synagogues that are still standing. These synagogues survived the inferno of the Nazi enemy whose goal was to destroy every trace of the Jewish people," Bolka adds.
"It is unthinkable that precisely in these days, when we have no enemy who wants to destroy the Jewish people and Poland presents itself as a nation that wants to preserve its history, that of the Jewish people and the memory of the Holocaust, there would be synagogues in danger of extinction that would be for sale as marketable real estate to anyone interested.
"All those responsible should come together and define the right way how to preserve these synagogues and how to make them a standing witness to 1000 years of glory of Polish Jewry and on the other hand, a living and breathing monument to the memory of those Jews who founded these synagogues and were murdered in the Holocaust."
were we wrong
We will fix it!
If you found an error in the article, we would appreciate it if you shared it with us