Soon after the establishment of the NDH, Ivan Werner became the mayor of Zagreb. It was him who signed, in October 1941, the order to demolish the synagogue. The excuse was that it did not fit the urban development plan of the city.
The demolition began in October 1941, and ended in spring 1942. The whole process was photographed, and the material became a part of the anti-Jewish exhibition which opened in May 1942 in the Art Pavilion in Zagreb. Later, the exhibition toured all the bigger towns in the NDH.
The demolition of the synagogue, the symbol of Zagreb and Zagreb Jewry, was an immense and very painful blow to the city's Jewish community.
- How did the demolition of the synagogue reflect the Ustasha antisemitic policy?
- In your opinion, what impact did the demolition of the synagogue have on the sense of identity and belonging to the community?