A 17th century synagogue in Chmielnik, in the central Świętokrzyske province, is to be renovated in a modern architectural style that is based on the pre-war shtetl.

The central portion of the synagogue, in the old interiors of the prayer room, will be a glass reconstruction of the Bimah, the platformed area from where the Torah is recited by the cantor.

The reconstruction project is set to start in 2010 and is set to cost 6 million zloty, of which 4 million has been set aside by the region from the EU’s Operational Fund, and 2 million which has already been received by the town from other sources.

The first Jews arrived in Chmielnik at the end of the 16th century, and the synagogue was built in 1630. Before the Second World War 80 percent of Chmielnik’s 8-thousand-strong population was Jewish. In 1941 the population was all but wiped out by the Nazi occupiers.