Polná is located in Bohemia, about 70 miles South West of Prague. Jews started settling in Polná in the fifteenth century. The ghetto was created in the seventeenth century, some houses can still be seen. The synagogue was built in 1682. Destroyed by a fire, it was restored in the nineteenth century. It served as a place for worship until 1936, then was used as a store for confiscated Jewish property. It had a similarly sad fate under the communists, who used it to store chemical fertiliser. The synagogue was at one point threatened with demolition but was saved by the Club for Old Polná, which repaired it after 1989. In 1994 it was returned to the Federation of Jewish Communities. Between 2011 and 2014, the synagogue and the Rabbi’s Residence underwent major renovations as part of the Revitalisation of Jewish Landmarks.