Skip to content
Shoresh Wiki

Bytom Synagogue: what Wikipedia removed

The Bytom Synagogue, then in Beuthen, Germany, was destroyed during Kristallnacht in November 1938. The 2010 opening stated that “on November 7, 1938 Goebbels delivered a fiery anti-Semitic tirade in Beuthen with a call for vengeance against Jews,” two days before the synagogue burned. The opening today says only that the synagogue “was destroyed by Nazis on November 9, 1938, during Kristallnacht,” though the word survives twice in the body. A reader today learns the synagogue was destroyed during Kristallnacht but not that Goebbels had personally called for vengeance against Jews in that town two days earlier.

The word “antisemitism” appeared 1 times in this article’s opening at its peak, in 2010. Today the opening carries none; the body carries 2. Checked against the full current article on 2026-08-01.

The tracked words, snapshot by snapshot

Section titled “The tracked words, snapshot by snapshot”
word2010201520206 October 20232025
antisemitism10000

Counts are of the opening paragraph only, the part most readers, search engines and AI training sets ever quote.

What was taken out

Section titled “What was taken out”
  • The opening’s repeated naming of the synagogue was reworded into a single sentence.
  • Goebbels’s antisemitic speech in Beuthen on November 7, 1938, calling for vengeance against Jews, dropped from the opening; the word survives twice in the body.

How it opened then, and now

Section titled “How it opened then, and now”

2010 (revision 363699738):

File:BytomSynagoga.jpg Bytom Synagogue Bytom Synagogue or Beuthen Synagogue was a synagogue in Beuthen, Prussian Silesia (now Bytom , Poland ), a border–town between Germany and Second Polish Republic prior to German invasion of Poland in World War II . Since the plebiscite of 1922 the border passed just east of Beuthen, so that neighboring Katowice were in Poland. Beuthen Synagogue was built in 1869, in place of an older one. Dr. Felix Kopfstein, lawyer and notary, became rabbi there in 1889. The synagogue was burned down by Nazi Germans during the Kristallnacht on 9–10 November 1938. On November 7, 1938 Goebbels delivered a fiery anti-Semitic tirade in Beuthen with a call for vengeance aga…

2025 (revision 1273938644):

Former Reform synagogue in Breslau, Germany The Bytom Synagogue or Beuthen Synagogue was a former Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue , located in Beuthen, in the Prussian Province of Silesia . The town is now located in present-day Bytom , Poland , a border–town between Germany and the Second Polish Republic prior to German invasion of Poland in World War II . After the plebiscite of 1922 , the border passed just east of Beuthen, so that neighboring Katowice was in Poland. Built in 1869, the synagogue was destroyed by Nazis on November 9, 1938, during Kristallnacht .

Section titled “Related”

Wikipedia text is quoted under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is not affiliated with Wikipedia.