The Jewish Cultural Center Arie Livne

The first facility of its kind built in the Balkans since the end of World War II, the Jewish Cultural Center is a place where Jewish life is being revived. Preserving the cultural traditions of the Jewish people is its primary mission, but the founders also envisioned it as a gathering place for intellectuals and artists from the region and beyond, regardless of their nationality or religion.

Within the Jewish Cultural Center, a synagogue was also built, named after Arie Livne’s mother, Ilona Weiss, who perished in Auschwitz during World War II. The synagogue, located inside the "Arie Livne" Jewish Cultural Center, is the first religious building constructed in seven decades where Jews can engage in prayer and study sacred texts. The facility is also open to visitors....

The first facility of its kind built in the Balkans since the end of World War II, the Jewish Cultural Center is a place where Jewish life is being revived. Preserving the cultural traditions of the Jewish people is its primary mission, but the founders also envisioned it as a gathering place for intellectuals and artists from the region and beyond, regardless of their nationality or religion.

Within the Jewish Cultural Center, a synagogue was also built, named after Arie Livne’s mother, Ilona Weiss, who perished in Auschwitz during World War II. The synagogue, located inside the "Arie Livne" Jewish Cultural Center, is the first religious building constructed in seven decades where Jews can engage in prayer and study sacred texts. The facility is also open to visitors. It is one of two synagogues in the Republic of Srpska, with the other located in the city of Doboj.

Before World War II, four synagogues existed in Banja Luka: three Sephardic and one Ashkenazi. The Sephardim built their first wooden synagogue in 1870 on the left bank of the Crkvena River, where today’s city market stands. Eight years later, Austro-Hungarian authorities burned it to the ground.

The construction of the second Sephardic synagogue was personally overseen by Rabbi Yosef Nahmijas, the first rabbi of the Sephardic community. It was built in the late 1880s on Jukićeva Street in the city center. The synagogue complex included a meldar (Jewish primary school), and across the street were the Jewish community offices and the rabbi’s residence. The Ashkenazi community built their synagogue between 1900 and 1902 on Tsarski Drum (today’s Mladen Stojanović Street), where the Red Cross building now stands. It was a beautiful structure that served the community until it was destroyed during World War II.

In 1934, an application was submitted for a permit to construct a new Jewish community center in Jukićeva Street, as the existing one was scheduled for demolition. The construction of the new synagogue began rapidly in 1936 on the same site as the old temple. As the number of Sephardic Jews in Banja Luka grew, the old synagogue had become too small. This was the most significant temple in Banja Luka, and it was consecrated in late 1936 by the Chief Rabbi of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Isak Alkalaj, alongside local rabbis Kohn and Atijas, and the rabbi of Bihać. The synagogue complex included a Jewish cultural center, creating a unique architectural environment. This Sephardic cultural center became a gathering place not only for Sephardim but also for Ashkenazim, who saw in it a hope for a better future. The Jewish Cultural Center included a lower Jewish school, a reading room with a library, a council chamber, a reception hall, a large ceremonial hall, multiple offices, and an apartment for the rabbi.

During the Allied bombing of Banja Luka in May 1944, the synagogue was destroyed, while the cultural center was partially preserved. After the war, only the skeletal remains of the building remained.