The basement of a former strip club in the historic area of Lesser Poland, purchased 15 years ago, has accidentally revealed a historic Jewish site – a mikveh or Jewish ritual purification bath filled with water. Located in the erstwhile Jewish settled town of Chmielnik, the basement has another accompanying smaller mikveh used by women. The Jewish bath’s original blue and white floor tiles, with the Stars of David on the wall, exist as they have always.

“It’s astonishing,” said Meir Bulka, who advocates for the preservation of Jewish heritage in Poland, in an interview with Haaretz. “You enter the basement, and you’re in another world. It’s like a time capsule.”

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The Sphinx nightclub, which once throbbed with life, lies woebegone with shuttered doors for nearly 15 years now. Entering it, a bar with a Heineken sign cling to the wall, and a pole where the dancers would do their work. The walls were adorned with Egyptian motifs, which are now in a crumbly state, accompany the mouldy walls and dripping ceiling, reports The Times of Israel.

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