The Great Maharsha Synagogue (; ) is a former

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

, located in

Ostroh Ostroh ( , ) is a city in Rivne Oblast, western Ukraine. It is situated on the Horyn River. Ostroh was the administrative center of Ostroh Raion until 2020, but as a city of oblast significance did not belong to the raion. Currently the city is ...

, in the

Rivne Oblast Rivne Oblast (), also referred to as Rivnenshchyna (), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast in western Ukraine. Its administrative center is Rivne. The surface area of the region is . Its population is: Before its annexation by the ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. With a congregation established in 1550s, the synagogue was completed in the 1620s in what was, at the thime, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, with the building named in honour of Rabbi Shmuel Eidels. Abandoned in the 1940s, the synagogue was partially destroyed by the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and subsequently used by

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

authorities as a warehouse. Again abandoned, the building fell into disrepair. Restoration efforts commenced in 2016 to preserve the former synagogue as a Jewish history museum.

History

It was built after 1627 under a restriction "prohibiting the erection of synagogues taller than churches." During the Russo-Polish War of 1792, the Russian army under General Kakhovsky (according to Alexander Suvorov, but this is not true) approached Ostroh. The frightened Jews locked themselves in the synagogue to save their lives. Meanwhile, the Polish army left the city, not ready to resist because of its small numbers. The Russians, believing that the synagogue was a castle, shelled the building with cannons for two days. After explaining to them that the Poles had long since left the city, he showed the Russians the ford across the Vilia River (the bridge was burned by the Poles during their retreat). Later, as a sign of this miraculous rescue, the place on the south wall where the cannonball hit was not plastered, and the other cannonball was hung under the vault in the prayer hall. In 1912, the building was overhauled. The western

façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...

was decorated with rusticated wood. The attic of the northern extension was remodeled. The interior was painted. As a result of the fighting during World War II, the building was heavily damaged. In 1941, it was destroyed and looted by the Nazi occupiers. The loopholes on the main façade and the buttresses between the windows were completely destroyed. In 1960, the building suffered significant losses and was turned into a warehouse. The eastern part was destroyed, as well as most of the northern part and the attic of the western façade. Only the prayer hall has survived, redesigned on three floors (the interfloor ceilings were removed in 2002). The synagogue was damaged during the

Khmelnytsky massacres The Khmelnytsky pogroms were pogroms carried out against the Jews of modern Ukraine during the 1648 Khmelnytsky Uprising of the Cossacks and serfs led by Bogdan Khmelnytsky (or the "Hamil of Evil", as he was called by the Jews) against the Po ...

and centuries later, once again, during the Holocaust. It was used as a warehouse during the

Soviet era The history of the Soviet Union (USSR) (1922–91) began with the ideals of the Russian Bolshevik Revolution and ended in dissolution amidst economic collapse and political disintegration. Established in 1922 following the Russian Civil War, ...

, and later abandoned. Reconstruction of the ruins began in 2016 under the leadership of Hryhoriy Arshynov; who died suddenly in 2020. It was proposed that this site is restored as a Jewish history museum.

Gallery

File:Розвалини синагоги.jpg, Exterior before the restoration File:Ostrog Synagoga.JPG, Interior before the restoration File:Велика синагога (Острог) Untitled Panorama1.jpg, The partially restored synagogue as of 2020

References

1550s establishments in the Habsburg monarchy 17th-century synagogues in Europe Baroque synagogues in Ukraine Buildings and structures in Rivne Oblast Synagogues in Ukraine destroyed by Nazi Germany Jewish organizations established in the 1550s Proposed museums Synagogues completed in the 1620s History of Rivne Oblast {{Jewish-hist-stub

History

Gallery

See also

References