The Vinkovci Synagogue was a synagogue in

Vinkovci Vinkovci () is a city in Slavonia, in the Vukovar-Syrmia County in eastern Croatia. The city's registered population was 28,247 in the 2021 census, the total population of the city was 31,057, making it the largest town of the county. Surround ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. It was among the largest and the most prestigious synagogues in Croatia. Ha-Kol (Glasilo Židovske zajednice u Hrvatskoj); Druga vinkovačka sinagoga; stranica 35, 36, 37, 38, 39; broj 97, studeni / prosinac 2006. The Jewish community Vinkovci was established with the arrival of the first Jews in 1873, and the first synagogue was built in 1880. The growth of the Jewish community in Vinkovci, as well as its tangible affirmation in the society, made the first synagogue insufficient. The first initiative to build a new synagogue appeared in 1911. Construction was scheduled to begin as soon as the financial structure was completed and appropriate place was found.

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

postponed the construction. After the war the main problem was financing. Due to the inflation of the

Yugoslav krone The krone ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", крyна, kruna; sl, krona) was a short-lived, provisional currency used in parts of the then newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, parts of which had previously been part of the Austro-H ...

, community could not finance the construction solely from the contribution of its members. In 1920, the fundraising started, and at that time the Jewish community of Vinkovci had about 200 members, of which 150 lived in Vinkovci and another 50 in the surrounding villages. In the mid-1922, thanks to the persistence and organizational capabilities of rabbi Mavro Frankfurter, the construction of the synagogue started. Jakob Schlesinger, a wealthy wholesaler and the owner of the steam mill in Vinkovci, gave the largest financial contribution to the construction. The Second Vinkovci Synagogue was built under the architect Frank Funtak in the Aleksandar street (today the Zvonimir street 18–20). The total cost of construction was 4,5 million krones. Funtak turned to classicism when choosing styles for the Vinkovci Synagogue. Although this style dominated, the building also had elements of the 19th-century synagogue architecture and of

art deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

. The synagogue dome was built in

Mudéjar style Mudéjar ( , also , , ca, mudèjar , ; from ar, مدجن, mudajjan, subjugated; tamed; domesticated) refers to the group of Muslims who remained in Iberia in the late medieval period despite the Christian reconquest. It is also a term for M ...

, while double windows and the trefoil upper row of windows were built in

rundbogenstil (round-arch style) is a nineteenth-century historic revival style of architecture popular in the German-speaking lands and the German diaspora. It combines elements of Byzantine, Romanesque, and Renaissance architecture with particula ...

. Vinkovci Synagogue had a longitudinal construction with a rectangular shape. Funtak took the dome style from the Vukovar Synagogue. In addition to the dome, a tripartite front was a traditional element of the synagogue architecture from the 20th century. The central part of the facade was slightly withdrawn in relation to the side. The sides of the synagogue were visually highlighted with an art deco set of gables above the cornice of the building. Vinkovci Synagogue was destroyed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

in 1941-42 by the regime of the

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia ( sh, Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH; german: Unabhängiger Staat Kroatien; it, Stato indipendente di Croazia) was a World War II-era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. It was established in p ...

. Rabbi Mavro Frankfurter and president of the community Ignjat Lang were both killed in the

Jasenovac concentration camp Jasenovac () was a concentration and extermination camp established in the village of the same name by the authorities of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) in occupied Yugoslavia during World War II. The concentration camp, one of the ...

References

Sources

* {{coord missing, Croatia Destroyed synagogues in Croatia Vinkovci Religious buildings and structures in Vukovar-Syrmia County Ashkenazi Jewish culture in Croatia Ashkenazi synagogues Former synagogues in Croatia Buildings and structures demolished in 1942 1942 disestablishments in Europe 1940s disestablishments in Croatia Synagogues completed in 1923 1923 establishments in Croatia Moorish Revival synagogues Buildings and structures destroyed during World War II