Cubist Synagogue in Milevsko

The synagogue was built during World War I as a replacement for the old synagogue. Since 1950, the building has been used as a Christian church of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church.

The new synagogue in Milevsk  was built between 1914 and 1919. It is the work of the Prague architect František Střílka and the leading architect of the period of Czech Cubism, Oldřich Tyl.

It represents a unique combination of pseudo-empire and cubist elements. Cubism is represented by the unique facade of the shield, the triangular shape of the shield, which is supported by four columns, the building refers to the empire.

Services were held in the synagogue until the Second World War, during the occupation its premises were used as a warehouse for powdered milk and packaging . The war caused the demise of the Jewish community, and since 1950 the building has been used as a Christian church of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church.

In the interior, the front wall with the tabernacle – a container for the Torah and the symbols of the Ten Commandments, and a women’s gallery supported by stone columns have been preserved.

In 1997, two commemorative plaques commemorating the genocide of the Jews during World War II were placed on the synagogue. The first plate has the following inscription in Hebrew and Czech: “Before World War II, this building was the synagogue of the Jewish community in Milevsk. In the years 1939-1945, almost all its members, women, men and children, were murdered by the Nazis. The city of Milevsko dedicates this plaque to the memory of fellow Jewish citizens.” The second plaque bears the names of ninety Jewish victims of Nazism from Milevsko and the surrounding area.

• Cubism Event 
• House of Black Madonna

Location

Religious community of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church