Unlike the other old synagogues of Trieste, the Scola Piccola continued to be used after the inauguration of the new temple, its function changed to an oratory for Corfiote members of the Jewish community. Located at the entrance of the Ghetto, on via delle Beccherie 19, the building was owned by the Jewish community aid organization (Fraternita Israelitica di Misericordia) and also hosted a clinic for poor people, offices and, on the ground floor, warehouses that were rented out.
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Demolition of the Scola Piccola in the Ghetto of Trieste, 1938
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In 1937, as part of the urban renovation project affecting the entire area, the building was forcibly expropriated by the City of Trieste and the Jewish community was given a compensation of 203,000 Italian Lire. The rabbi of Trieste, Italo Zolli (1881-1956; born Israel Anton Zoller, after the war converted to Catholicism and baptized as Eugenio Pio), together with the president of the Jewish community, Giacomo Seppilli (1864-1950), wrote a protest to the Mayor, Enrico Paolo Salem (1884-1948). Although the Jewish community protested, arguing for both the key nature of the clinic's medical service and the importance of the oratory for many of its members, the City of Trieste did not take these objections into consideration.
On 7 July 1937, the Prefecture of Trieste authorized the City of Trieste to expropriate the building.
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Expropriation decree for the Scola Piccola, 7 July 1937
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