Apart from the almemor, the sanctuary is especially valuable from the interior furnishings. The whole interior is decorated with beautiful ornamental paintings, which, despite considerable damage to the building and without a more thorough reconstruction, have so far retained the original saturation, expressiveness and shape.
The synagogue served its purpose until 1942. In the spring and summer of that year, together with the adjoining area, it became a meeting place for Jews of Prešov immediately before the deportations. From there, the guards dragged several thousand citizens of the city into transports to concentration camps. During the occupation of Prešov, the German army set up stables and garages in the synagogue.
After the necessary repairs and additions to the interior, it was solemnly consecrated in October 1948. As the most beautiful functional synagogue in Slovakia, it was 1989-1990 Jews from Los Angeles unsuccessfully sought to recruit and transport to the United States. In August 1991, a monument to more than 6,000 Holocaust victims from Prešov and the surrounding area was unveiled in the courtyard in front of the synagogue entrance in the presence of the highest Slovak state officials.
The Prešov Jewish Museum was established in 1928 as the first of its kind in Slovakia. The largest share in its construction and collection of collections was the chairman of the geological community Ing. Eugen Bárkány and dr. Teodor Austerlitz, son of the famous Rabbi of Prešov. Thanks to them, we managed to obtain about 300 items originating not only from Slovakia, but also from all over the world.
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