Synagogues to be restored in Belarus and Ukraine

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Synagogues have always been a place of cultural and religious life of Jewish communities. Public prayers are performed in them together. Unfortunately, some of these religious buildings are now in a deplorable state, but there are people, public organizations, municipalities, patrons of the arts who are fighting for their complete restoration.

Oshmyany synagogue

In the past, almost half of the city's population was Jewish by religion. They built at the beginning of the century a classic, rectangular building with a three-tiered roof in the very center of Ashmyany. It combines Belarusian architectural forms and traditional Jewish motives of that time. The brick building on Mickiewicz Street is decorated with a window with a Gothic rose, and the gables of the facade are decorated with lions. Inside the walls of the synagogue are painted with unique patterns (the starry sky is depicted on the ceiling), on the columns you can see images of insects and animals.

Until 2015, the religious building was a warehouse, then it became the hall of the local museum of local lore. In the city of Oshmyany, funds are being sought for priority conservation, with the further prospect of full restoration. The Jewish Heritage Foundation joined this process.

Shargorod synagogue

Shargorod occupied a central place in the defense of the region called Podillia, therefore, in the 16th century, the synagogue was also built of a defensive type. The loopholes have survived, the walls are up to 2 m thick. The architecture of the famous synagogue is in the Moorish style with elements of the Renaissance. Over the four hundred year history, it has undergone multiple reconstructions and received several one-story outbuildings.

Recently, the building was recognized as a monument of architectural history and transferred to the balance of the local Jewish community. The municipality was able to negotiate with patrons of art who will finance the restoration of one of the oldest and most beautiful synagogues in Ukraine. First of all, they will make a roof with a drainage system and carry out finishing work inside.

Slonim synagogue

In the 17th century, the Jewish community built a Baroque synagogue. Its character was defensive with loopholed windows and 2 m wide walls. It is interesting that all the roads of Slonim converge to the building. The interior features gilded stucco (two tablets supported by lions), frescoes (depicting musical instruments, vases of flowers and leaves).

In 2000, the religious building was handed over to the Jewish community, but work did not begin. The buildings are now mothballed. Jewish organizations from the states and Great Britain are looking for donors for the restoration of the oldest synagogue in Belarus.

Lokhvitskaya synagogue

Earlier, half of the inhabitants of Lokhvitsa were Jews. The neo-Renaissance synagogue was built in the 19th century at the expense of businessman Dunaevsky in the city center. In Soviet times, it housed an incubator. Now the Lokhvitskaya synagogue has become a communal property.

Local authorities and public figures are actively looking for funding, which they plan to use for the reconstruction of the building. The ideologist of this process was the mayor of Lokhvitsa himself.

In their sometimes tragic history, the Jewish people have lost their temples in Jerusalem following attacks by foreigners. But now the cultural heritage created by tens of generations of people is being lost due to human indifference. The Belarusian and Ukrainian people have been living together with different Jewish communities for almost a thousand years, and if every Ukrainian, Belarusian and Jew allocates a few rubles or tens of hryvnias from their budget, then all these historical objects will be recreated.