Editing Katowice (section)

====Judaism====
[[File:Katowice Synagoge.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Great Synagogue, Katowice|Great Synagogue]] was destroyed by the [[Nazi Germany|German Nazis]] during the [[invasion of Poland]] on 4 September 1939]]
Judaism has historically been present in Katowice since at least 1702.<ref name="sztetl.org.pl">{{Cite web|title=Historia społeczności {{!}} Wirtualny Sztetl|url=https://sztetl.org.pl/pl/miejscowosci/k/398-katowice/99-historia-spolecznosci/137450-historia-spolecznosci|access-date=2021-02-12|website=sztetl.org.pl}}</ref> First [[synagogue]], designed by a local architect Ignatz Grünfeld, was consecrated on 4 September 1862, while the Jewish cemetery was established in 1868. Dr. Jacob Cohn was the first [[rabbi]] of Katowice, appointed to this function on 6 January 1872 and holding it until 1920s. [[Zionism]] was strong in Katowice, and in 1884 the city was the place of the [[Katowice Conference]], the first public Zionist meeting in history. On 12 September 1900, the [[Great Synagogue (Katowice)|Great Synagogue]] was opened.

Following World War I and subsequent creation of the [[Second Polish Republic|Polish state]], most Katowice Jews, who identified with Germany, left the city and settled primarily in [[Bytom]], a nearby city that was still part of Germany. They were partially replaced by Jews moving from the East, particularly the neighboring [[Dąbrowa Basin]] region that had a large Jewish population. In 1931, 60% of 5,716 Jews in Katowice were recent immigrants from other parts of Poland.<ref name="sztetl.org.pl"/> On 1 September 1939, Poland was attacked by [[Nazi Germany]], and Katowice, a border city, surrendered on 3 September. The Great Synagogue was burned by the German army the same day, and in the following months, Katowice Jews were deported to [[Nazi ghettos|ghettos]] in Dąbrowa Basin (primarily [[Sosnowiec Ghetto|Sosnowiec]] and [[Będzin Ghetto|Będzin]]) or directly to various [[Nazi concentration camps|concentration]] and [[Extermination camp|death camps]] where most of them were murdered in [[the Holocaust]]. After the war, around 1,500 Jews were living in Katowice, but most of them left Poland and emigrated to the [[United States]] and other Western countries.

Currently, Katowice has one [[Qahal]] with approximately 200 members. It owns houses of prayer in Katowice (along with a [[Kosher foods|kosher]] cafeteria) and nearby Gliwice, and the current rabbi is Yehoshua Ellis.