The Jews very soon established their own community, however it could not grow stronger for a long time: they could not become independent as they were not allowed to buy a house or a piece of land. To make matters worse, their paltry house of worship fell victim to arson in 1804, and then the newly built synagogue was destroyed along with a big part of the city in the fire of 1840.
The churches, shops and houses burnt down to ashes, but they started again and together with the rest of the city they rebuilt Baja. The city was prospering with its craftsmen and trade, and the significant trade in wood, grains, wool, leather and livestock. The Jewish populations started trade with the latter, expanding their activities gradually along with the newly gained religious and political emancipation, which helped their expansion and prosperity. They raised their institution next to one another, beside the synagogue. The Jewish school was also established on the land next to the synagogue.
Chief rabbi Kohn Schwerin Götz called upon his former students and friends abroad to help build up the new synagogue. His endeavours bore fruit: the shul built in neo-classicist style was inaugurated five years later in 1845, and the ceremony was held in Hungarian for the first time in the history of the Hungarian synagogues. The building of the former synagogue houses a library today, which you could not tell as you look at the exterior.