Contemporary Jewish life in Łódź - the community, the synagogue and the Centre for Dialogue

The question tourists visiting Łódź in search of the city's Jewish history regularly ask is: is there still any Jewish life here, or is it all just history recorded in cemeteries and museums? The answer is not clear-cut, but the truth is that the Jewish community in Łódź, though small, still exists and functions.

The Jewish Religious Community today

The contemporary Jewish Religious Community in Łódź today has around 200 registered members, though the broader community of people with Jewish roots connected to the city is estimated at 600 to 1,000 people. This is a small fraction of the prewar community, which numbered over 200,000 people and at the time made up a third of the city's residents - but it is still a real, organized community with its own institutions and regular religious life.

The Reicher Synagogue, still active

The Reicher Synagogue (Synagoga Reicherów), the only synagogue in Łódź to survive the war - saved thanks to a ruse by its prewar owner, who staged the sale of the building to a German associate who set up a salt warehouse in it - is today one of two active synagogues in Łódź. Weekly Sabbath services are held there, and the community also runs Hebrew lessons and a seniors' club, bringing together the community's oldest members.

The Marek Edelman Centre for Dialogue

An important institution of contemporary Jewish life in Łódź is the Marek Edelman Centre for Dialogue (Centrum Dialogu im. Marka Edelmana), which deals both with education about the history of the Holocaust and the Litzmannstadt Ghetto, and with building dialogue between the city's various communities. The centre organizes exhibitions, educational meetings and cultural events, linking the memory of the past with activities aimed at today's residents of Łódź, regardless of their background.

Days of Jewish Culture

For years Łódź has hosted the Days of Jewish Culture (Dni Kultury Żydowskiej) - a series of events including klezmer music concerts, literary meetings, film screenings and workshops, open to all residents of the city, not only those connected to the community. This event plays an important role in building the visibility of the contemporary Jewish community in the city - it shows that Jewish culture in Łódź is not only a museum subject, but a living, still-evolving tradition.

Why this matters for visitors

For tourists coming to Łódź in search of the city's Jewish history - visiting the Jewish cemetery on Zagajnikowa street or the Radegast Station - the awareness that the Jewish community in the city still exists changes the perspective of the whole visit. It is not only a journey into the past, but also an encounter with a living, though small, part of contemporary Łódź.

In practice: what can be seen

The Reicher Synagogue is open for visits at set hours, outside service times - it is worth checking the current schedule before your visit, especially during Jewish holidays, when availability for tourists can be limited. The Centre for Dialogue regularly publishes its programme of events, including a part open to visitors without prior booking. You can read more about the history and present day of Jewish Łódź in the Poznaj Łódź section.