The document issued on 1 October 1864 in Tarnów by the Committee for the Construction of a New Synagogue for Zelig Offner amounts to 50 Austrian guilders. The bond was printed in a printing house in Wrocław. On a cream-coloured sheet of paper is a wreath composed half of oak leaves and half of laurel, girded with a wide white ribbon. The composition is topped by a silhouette of Moses leaning against two stone tablets with the Ten Commandments of God. In the centre is a text in German, stating that the purpose of the fundraising is to build a new house of prayer for Tarnów Jews. The amount, the name of the donor and the sequential number from the register were handwritten: 227. The official nature of the bond is evidenced by a stamp of stamp duty of 15 kreuzers placed in the upper left corner and the seal of the District Court in Tarnów (?). On the back there is interesting information about the purchase of seats in the new house of worship. The auction was to be held every year, in August and September, until the seats were sold out. Payment in cash was mandatory, unless one had a bond with which they could pay the amount due. If a bondholder was not interested in participating in the auction, they could expect their document to be redeemed for the amount for which the bond was issued. At the end of the auction, a lottery was to be held annually to select the shares to be redeemed (by default by the Committee for the Construction of a New Synagogue). Such a lottery was to depend on currently available funds.
The purpose of the fundraising organised by the Committee was to build a New Synagogue in Tarnów. It was located on the corner of Nowa and Waryńskiego Streets. It was distinguished by its golden dome, towering over Tarnów, which was undoubtedly very distinctive and provided a good point of reference for residents. It was called "Jubilee" because it was commissioned on the birthday of Emperor Franz Joseph I – August 18, 1908, in the 60th year of his reign. In early November 1939, the synagogue burned to the ground in a fire set by the Germans.
Karolina Fudyma
