Designed by Carl Korn and completed in 1873, the synagogue served as a house of prayer until World War II when it was destroyed by Nazis in November 1939.

Archival documents suggest that a townsman from Oświęcim, Jan Piotraszewski, gave or sold his land to the local Jewish community so that they could build their temple and cemetery.

[3] Approximately 400 objects were found during the works, called the Oświęcim Treasure, comprising the equipment of the synagogue – including chandeliers, copper Ner tamid lamps, fragments of furniture and ornaments, decorative floor tiles, marble elements of the Aron Kodesh, a ceremonial dish for washing hands, charred fragments of prayer books and commemorative plaques.

The discovery was transferred to the Auschwitz Jewish Center in Oświęcim, where the artefacts were catalogued, inventoried and restored.

[6] The beginning of the Jewish settlement in Oświęcim officially began in the first half of the 16th century, so before the World War II, the community was over 400 years old.

The Great Synagogue was attended mainly by representatives of the progressive Jewish intelligentsia (including doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs and officials), and to a limited extent also traditionalists.

The magnificent temple building was visible in the city skyline and symbolized the importance of the Jewish community.

The appearance of the synagogue before the reconstruction that ended in 1900 and the interior is unknown because no photographs or architectural plans have survived.

Korn was a well-known Polish architect from Bielsko who also designed Biała and Wadowice synagogues.

At the beginning of the 20th century, annexes to the north and to the south were added, filling the empty space on a slope on which the synagogue had been erected.

In the center of the synagogue there was a green colored platform, the Holy Ark and the Lectern were made of elegant white marble.