The devastation of the synagogue

„In the middle of a German city - and that is Sankt Pölten, is not it? - there rises up an Oriental building, curled characters "front" its front, and a star rises on the dome, which we like to dispense with in our sky. If this building once stands without sense and purpose, and soon (it is clear, here the Ostmark is indicative), then will it make way for a "representative" building? If we succeeded in cleaning the business life in our city from strangers, the external phenomena must also follow.“ This unrulled invitation to the destruction of the St. Pölten Synagogue was already written by the "St. Pöltner Anzeiger" on 5 November 1938.

On the night of November 10th, 1938, several persons, presumably members of the SA and SS, entered the cantor's house next to the synagogue, laid fire, and smashed the windowpanes.

On the morning of the 10th of November a SS leader from Krems apparently appeared to organize the destruction of the synagogue. In front of the building were gathered 300 to 400 persons, partly in uniform, partly in civilian, among them members of SA, SS, HJ and Reichsarbeitsdienst as well as St. Pöltner pupils under the guidance of their teachers. The St. Pöltner Anzeiger of November 16, 1938, acknowledged that some "daring" had even succeeded in "removing the insignia of Judah, the Davidstern, the faithful image of the Sovietstern, from the dome."

On this morning, the interior of the synagogue was completely destroyed by the fall of political songs. The windows were knocked down, the interior furnishings and the toricolls burned, water pipes, lighting bodies and doorposts torn from the walls. Books and files were thrown on the street, poured over with gasoline and lit under bravo shouts. The St. Pöltner Security Service reported to the SD sub-section of Vienna: "The actions against the Jews are accepted by the population with approval." Some schaulustige, however, expressed their discomfort: "Well, let them already have their faith."

Of the total movable property of the IKG St. Pölten, "2 or 3 silver cups, 1 silver hand (silver pointer to Torah reading) and 2 Torah scolls" remained. The whereabouts of these items are still unclear. Some of the archives of the cultic community were brought to the city archives St. Pölten. The heavily damaged building was protected against unauthorized access.