Chiel (Jechiel) Wiener

The Mizrachi Prayer House in Bedzin was founded at the end of the 19th century by the initiative and funds of the wealthy merchant Jakub Chil Winer. The Mizrachi Synagogue – a 20th century synagogue established by Bedzin merchant Jakub Chil Winer in the basement of his house. This private synagogue is the only one that survived the Holocaust in the entire city. The so-called Mizrachi synagogue, believed to date from the mid-1920s, is located in a building at ul. Potocki 3 in the former Jewish quarter. It was used by the members of the Mizrachi religious Zionist organization. The founder was probably the owner of the entire building, a man named Wiener, who was active in the movement.

From http://www.polskaniezwykla.pl/web/place/19564,bedzin-dom-wienera.html . "The Wiener's house is a huge Będzin tenement house (see Media photo) standing at the intersection of Małachowskiego and Potocki Streets, whose façade, despite war damage, has retained its original character. Before the war, it was an unusual place. It housed the cultural, social and religious center of Będzin Jews from various spheres. Sometimes this place was referred to as Mały Będzin , because all the most important Jewish institutions were located here - there was a synagogue, a school, a café and ... a public house. From time to time, circus people came to Będzin and gave their performances there, and the concerts were organized by the organ concertar. The size of the tenement house can be confirmed by the fact that there was also a hotel, a printing house and a restaurant. Religious ceremonies were also held.

Underground building they were, however, a completely "different world". There were courtesans and small thieves living there. That's why sometimes it came to scenes like gangster movies. But the intervention of the Będzin police did not bring results, because all black characters disappeared in the labyrinths of passages and secret corridors.

The Wiener family was very rich for those times and had its contribution to the artistic life of the city. In 2003, the long-forgotten Synagogue of Mizrachi was discovered in the basement of the building ."

Birth Registration: 26.2.1858