The Synagogues of Europe
PAST AND PRESENT
Belarus

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          EXHIBITION

 
Below you will find a series of postcards that depict various synagogues that currently or once stood in Europe. Most of these photographs have been purchased, taken, or otherwise obtained by those visiting these towns and cities, and they have been subsequently submitted to the Museum to be placed online.  Some of these synagogues might still be extant, i.e. still being used as synagogues, but others lay abandoned and perhaps in a state of disrepair, or are currently being used for other purposes. Some have been restored.

Current town names are used to indicate the location of each synagogue.

The Museum welcomes further submissions, as this exhibition is forever ongoing and evolving. Please include the name of the country, town/city, synagogue (if known), and the month and year the photo was taken.

Please click on the thumbnail photos to see the enlarged versions.
 
 
BELARUS    
ASHMYANY, BELARUS (1990s)*2  
BABRUYSK (BOBRUISK), BELARUS (2007)*2

Destroyed synagogue.
 
BABRUYSK (BOBRUISK), BELARUS (2008)*2
Dzierzynski str.
 
BABRUYSK (BOBRUISK), BELARUS (2008)*2
Sacyjalistycznaja str.
 
BABRUYSK (BOBRUISK), BELARUS (2008)*2
Second synagogue on Sacyjalistycznaja str.
 
BABRUYSK (BOBRUISK), BELARUS  
BREST-LITOVSK, BELARUS
Groyser Bais Midrash of Brest-Litovsk
Palitseiskaya Street

Cinema 'Belarus' now stands in its place."
 
BRZESC NAD BUGIEM, BELARUS (early 20th c.)*2  
DERECHIN, BELARUS (1930) TW
Was Dereczyn, Poland before WWII

Complex of two synagogues. On the left, the wooden synagogue used as a house of study.

 
DOLGINOVO, BELARUS
large synagogue, now a warehouse
 
DOLGINOVO, BELARUS
small synagogue, used as a stable
 
DOLGINOVO, BELARUS
suspected synagogue near a Jewish cemetery
 
DUBROWNA, BELARUS f
Dubrovno (Yiddish)

Province of Mohilev.
 
GORODOK, BELARUS (1930) TW
Was Gródek, Poland before WWII.
 
HARADOK, BELARUS (2006)*2  
HOMYEL, BELARUS *1
Was Gomel, Soviet Union before WWII.

Returned building of the former Rosh Pina Synagogue
 
HOMYEL, BELARUS *1
Was Gomel, Soviet Union before WWII.
 

HRODNA, BELARUS (1999)
Was Grodno, Poland before WWII.
The Great Synagogue

The synagogue was built in the Jewish quarter in Grodno in 1578.
The synagogue is currently being renovated.

 
HRODNA, BELARUS (1915) TW
Was Grodno, Poland before WWII.

Two wooden synagogues. On first plan private house of prayer, at background roof of the great synagogue.

 
KAMYANYETS, BELARUS  TW
Was Kamieniec Litewski, Poland before WWII.

Wooden synagogue.

 
KOBRIN, BELARUS
Grand Synagogue
KOZHAN-GORODOK, BELARUS (1930) TW
Was Kożangródek, Poland before WWII.

Wooden synagogue.

 
KREVA, BELARUS (2007)*2  
LIDA, BELARUS
Shkolnaya Street

"After the reconstruction the street had disappeared."
Photo right: Dated 1910. Courtesy of Tomek Wisniewski.
LUNNA, BELARUS  (1930) TW
known as Łunna, Poland before WWII.

Wooden synagogue.

LUNNA, BELARUS 
known as Łunna, Poland before WWII.

photo, left: Mittnagdim Synagogue. Photo taken by Yaakov Margolis who visited Lunna in 1958.

photo, right: The building of the former Mittnagdim synagogue in Lunna was renovated. Photo taken by Ruth M.  in 2006. The building is now used as the town's club.

MINSK, BELARUS
Choral Synagogue


"The choral synagogue stood on Serpukhauskaya Street. Before the war it functioned as a cinema called 'Culture.' Later it was reconstructed to house the M. Gorki Russian Drama Theatre."
 
MINSK, BELARUS
"The school yard and the synagogue were situated on Shkolnaya Street. Today there stands a design institute (Freedom Square and Nyamiga Street.)"
 
MAHILYOW, BELARUS (1943)*2
Mogilev, Belarus SSR, Soviet Union before WWII.

Rt. photo: dated 1900, interior of wooden synagogue. TW
 

MOLCHAD, BELARUS (1915) TW
Was Mołczadź, Poland before WWII.

 
 
MOLCHAD, BELARUS (1915)

Former Kalte Shul -- second floor added on and today the building is used as a co-operative farming office. Before World War II there were three synagogues alongside each other in what was called the Shul Heif: The Kalte Shul was used for prayers on Saturday and the Holidays. The Beit Hamidrash (House of Study) where the men studied and prayed during the week. The Shtibel was the third prayer place where the Chasidim prayed.  
 
 
Navahrudak, BELARUS (1927) TW
Was Nowogródek, Poland before WWII.

Wooden synagogue.

 

Navahrudak, BELARUS
Was Nowogródek, Poland before WWII.

The big building with the five windows on the right was the big synagogue of the town.

Navahrudak, BELARUS
Was Nowogródek, Poland before WWII.

Built in the sixteenth century, built with stone by the Karaims.

Photo right dated 1923.

 
ODELSK, BELARUS (1930) TW
Was Odelsk, Poland before WWII.

Wooden synagogue.

OSTRYNA, BELARUS (1916) TW
Was Ostryna, Poland before WWII.

Wooden synagogue.

 
Ozëry, Belarus (1915) TW
Was Jeziory, Poland before WWII.

Wooden synagogue built in the eighteenth century.

 
PESKI, BELARUS (1930) TW
Was Piaski, Poland before WWII.

Wooden synagogue.

 

PINSK, BELARUS*
Pinsk Synagogue
POROZOVO, BELARUS (1993)
Was Porozów, Poland before WWII.
 
SLONIM, BELARUS (2006)
Was Słonim, Poland before WWII.

Though unaffected structurally during World War II, the synagogue is currently in a dilapidated condition.

Photo from Wikipedia.
 
SLONIM, BELARUS
Was Słonim, Pland before WWII.
Mastavaya (Yanka Kupala) Street

"The building in the centre is still there."
 
SLONIM, BELARUS

Today the town's market place sits on the site of  what was once the Jewish cemetery alongside the Great Synagogue in Slonim.

 
SLONIM, BELARUS (1930) TW
Was Słonim, Pland before WWII.
 
SLONIM, BELARUS

Former synagogue in Slonim, Belarus now furniture store. Bimah still remains as seen in picture,  right.

SLONIM, BELARUS
Zionist synagogue

Now used as health club for students at the medical school down the street which was the former Jewish Hospital.

 
TELEKHANY, BELARUS
Lyubisher synagogue
The Chassidic synagogue.
 
TELEKHANY, BELARUS
Stoliner synagogue

The Stoliner Rebbe with Rabbi Yosef Glick leaving the synagogue.
 
TELEKHANY, BELARUS
Mitnagdim synagogue
(non-Chassidic)
 
VAWKAVYSK (Wołkowysk), UKRAINE (cir 1925)
was Wołkowysk, Poland before WWII.
Great (Wielka) Synagogue
 
VITEBSK, BELARUS
Suvorauskaya Street
"On the extreme right is the building of a synagogue which has not survived."
 
 
VITEBSK, BELARUS (1904)*2
Zautziya Synagogue
Suvorauskaya Street
Per Esther Rechtschafner, "The translation of the caption is 'The Great Synagogue.' This is a picture of the Zautziya Synagogue. It was on the 'other side' (eastern side) of the Divina River (in relationship to the Jewish Quarter). It was located directly south of the Duna River and directly east of the Dvina River. The main synagogue and another large synagogue were also on the east side, on Suworow Street. The main Synagogue was called the "Slovodka".

 
 


VOLPA, BELARUS (1920) TW, f
was Wołpa, Poland before WWII.

Wooden synagogue.

Photo, bottom right from Wikipedia (1845), Bimah of synagogue.

 


Source (of many of the above photos): "Towns of Belarus on Old-Time Postcards" by Viachka Tselesh, 1998 (ISBN 985-01-0191-1).

*--
Photo edited in 2002 by Wydawnictwo Mazowieckie, Przasnysz and prepared by Mariusz Bondarczuk and Artur K.F. Wolosz.

TW - from private collection.

*1-- courtesy of  Our Legacy: The CIS Synagogues, Past and Present by Michael Beizer, AJDC/Gesharim,  (book), Jewish Agency, Education Department (internet version).

*
2-- From Wikipedia.

 

 

 

 

 


 











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