Objects

A double glass plate negative with a photograph of the interior of the so-called Old Synagogue at Rybny Square in Tarnów. The first synagogue in Tarnów was wooden, built around 1582 and burned down forty years later. The new building was erected around 1630, but it also suffered from a fire. The next construction dates back to 1670 – the building was built at the Rybny Square. In later years it was expanded and rebuilt. The glass plate negative shows a fragment of the synagogue's interior with the Aron ha-Kodesh, which is a sacred cabinet in which the Torah scrolls are kept. The cabinet is covered with a dark cloth called a Torah Ark curtain, which was removed during prayers. Next to it, an amud, i.e. a special lectern, was set up under the window, at which the chazan recited some prayers. The photograph probably dates from the interwar period.

Karolina Fudyma