An official says the only synagogue near the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz may crumble if the sloping ground it stands on is not reinforced soon.

The Lomdei Mishnayot Synagogue is the only one still in existence in Oswiecim, the southern city where Nazi Germans ran the Auschwitz camp during World War II. It was rededicated in 2000 to try to rekindle the Jewish life that was vibrant in the city before the war.

The head of the related Jewish Center, Tomasz Kuncewicz, said Tuesday that the building is on unstable ground. Work to shore the ground up will start in the spring, but organizers are seeking $330,000 for the effort.

Some 1.5 million people, mostly Jews, were killed at Auschwitz.