For Croydon's Jewish community this year's Holocaust Memorial Day holds extra resonance as members celebrate the centenary of its synagogue.

Members of Croydon and District Synagogue paid tribute to the victims and survivors of the Holocaust at a ceremony at the town hall on Monday.

Special mention was made to those who survived concentration camps and came to settle in Croydon.

And the borough's Jewish community has also revealed its synagogue's rich and varied 100-year history, which includes being targeted by National Front racists.

The first mention of the synagogue in Croydon was in 1908, when it was based in a house in Croydon Grove, according to Marilyn Arbisman, the synagogue's spokeswoman. A significant number of tailors with Jewish-sounding names were listed in the Croydon directory in the late 19th century.

A hall was built in Elmwood Road in 1920 and a minister taught Hebrew in the basement. This was followed in 1934 by the first synagogue which was built behind the house - thought to be the first synagogue at this address.

Marilyn added: "During this time, apart from the tailors, Croydon's Jewish community included drapers, hairdressers, a watchmaker, a dressmaker and a photographer, osteopath and newsagent. There was also a kosher butcher and grocer, a delicatessen and a few doctors.

"During World War II, 26 Kinder Transport and other schoolboy refugees were housed in the Elmwood Road building. In 1947 a Polish doctor called John Geller, who had been imprisoned by the Russians, arrived in Croydon.

"Upon liberation, he joined the Polish forces and his unit was transported through Uzbekistan and the Middle East before he eventually arrived in the UK, where he met and married his second wife, Blanka, who was a survivor from a concentration camp. His first wife had perished in one."

In 1947 another synagogue was founded in Ashburton Road, Addiscome. However, by 1954, the two had merged and services continued in Elmwood Road. The community had now grown to 350 families.

In 1969, Holocaust survivor Alex Rosin was appointed as minister. However, the 1970s was to see the synagogue clash with the National Front.

Marilyn said: "In 1976, the front of the building was vandalised and was again defaced in 1980. From 1987 to 1991, there were a number of break-ins and vandalism which meant events had to be held at alternative venues."

Land was bought in Shirley Oaks for a new building. The new synagogue opened in 1995 featuring stained glass windows from the old buildings.

Marilyn added: "A hundred years on in 2008 the membership is slowly rising again as a new generation is born. We are extremely proud of our synagogue. We look forward to our community growing and thriving along with our neighbours of other faiths living and working together in peace, mutual respect and harmony."