The Great Synagogue in Slonim ( be, Вялікая сінагога Слоніма) or simply the Slonim Synagogue ( be, Слонімская сінагога) is a 17th-century baroque former synagogue building in

Slonim Slonim ( be, Сло́нім, russian: Сло́ним, lt, Slanimas, lv, Sloņima, pl, Słonim, yi, סלאָנים, ''Slonim'') is a city in Grodno Region, Belarus, capital of the Slonimski rajon. It is located at the junction of the Ščar ...

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

.Has a status of Historical and Cultural value of the Republic of Belarus.

History

The synagogue was the main religious building of Slonim's then numerous and influential

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

community. The building was erected in 1642Great Slonim Synagogue —History
/ref> and was initially part of the town's fortifications system. In 1881 the synagogue was heavily damaged in a fire. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, almost the entire Jewish population of Slonim was murdered by the Nazis in the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

. The building was left untouched by the German

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, but has subsequently deteriorated. After the war, the Communist administration used the building as a furniture warehouse. In 2001, after the restoration of the independence of Belarus, the building was returned to the Belarusian Jewish community.

Current state

The synagogue is standing but in a dilapidated condition.Late December 2020 the individual from Minsk has bought the synagogue at the auction and opened the Saving Heritage foundation to help the Great synagogue in Slonim to survive.

Restoration project

Under an initiative of the Kaplinsky family, a steering group for the conservation of the synagogue was established through the

Foundation for Jewish Heritage Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good caus ...

to restore the Slonim Synagogue and to make it a “major educational facility, cross-cultural meeting place, memorial, place of worship, and a cultural centre ensuring that the Great Synagogue has a sustainable future”. The steering group includes Britons and Americans with family links to the Jewish community of Slonim and the architect Tszwai So. On 29 December 2020 the Synagogue was sold at public auction to a writer and musician Ilona Ioanna Reeves. In 2022 the writer gave the synagogue

Gallery

References

Synagogue in Slonim 2021Slonim synagogueSlonim synagogue history Ioanna Reeves article for “Tsaytshrift” journal of Jewish studies (European Humanities University) Slonim Synagogue and Ioanna Reeves

External links