The Synagogues of Europe
PAST AND PRESENT
 Ukraine

Home       l       Site Map      l      Exhibitions      l     About the Museum       l      Education      l     Contact Us       l      Links

          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.
 
AUSTRIA BELARUS BELGIUM CROATIA CZECH REPUBLIC
FRANCE GERMANY GREECE HUNGARY ITALY
LATVIA LITHUANIA MOLDOVA POLAND ROMANIA
RUSSIA SERBIA SLOVAKIA SPAIN SWITZERLAND
TURKEY UKRAINE      
 
UKRAINE    
BEREZDOVTSY, UKRAINE
pre-1939 Brzozdowce, Poland
 
CHERVONOGRAD, UKRAINE
before World War II
 

CZERNOWITZ, UKRAINE (1929)
The Temple of Czernowitz

In 1872 there was a split in Czernowitz between the Reform and Orthodox communities.  In 1873 construction of the synagogue commenced. Two years later both communities reunited, and  in 1878 the synagogue, designed a bit like a mosque, was consecrated.  The synagogue was used mostly by the wealthier Reform group, though services were not so Reform. At the time, the synagogue was  the most prominent building in all of Czernowitz.

In 1940 the Russians, who had annexed Czernowitz, closed the synagogue and confiscated its property. On Jul 5, 1941, German and Romanian soldiers burned down the synagogue. In 1959 the ruins were converted into a movie theater (see bottom photo on right.)

DNIPROPETROVSK (EKATERINOSLAV), UKRAINE



Photo, right dated 2000.

*1

DUBNO, UKRAINE  (2004)
Grosse Shul

There are plans--but no funds--to restore this building, perhaps as a museum of Jewish life.

EKATERINOSLAV, UKRAINE  
EKATERINOSLAV, UKRAINE  
HUSIATYN, UKRAINE

The synagogue is now a museum.



1936
IVANO-FRANKOVO, UKRAINE
Janow Lwowski, Poland before WWII.

Wooden synagogue.
 
Kamyanets Podilskyy, UKRAINE (mid-1990s) *1

Former Great Synagogue. Burned down during World War II. Rebuilt in the 1970s as a restaurant. Photo by Yuli Lifshits
 

 
KERCH, UKRAINE (2001) *1

Facade of renovated Synagogue. Photo by V. Kantor

 
KHARKIV, UKRAINE (1995) *1
The Choral Synagogue

Photo by E. Kotlyar
 
KHERSON, UKRAINE (1995/2000) *1

left: facade before renovation
right: facade post-renovation
Khmelnytskyy, UKRAINE (1985) *1

Synagogue was torn down in 1991.
 
 
KIEV, UKRAINE (1900/2007/2008)
Brodsky Synagogue

According to Wikipedia,
"The synagogue was built between 1897 and 1898. A merchant named Lazar Brodsky financed its construction. The synagogue was designed in Moorish style by Georgij Szlejfer.

The building was devastated during the Second World War by Nazis and was subsequently used as a puppet theatre for a long period. It was renovated in 2000 and is currently used as a synagogue."

KIEV, UKRAINE (2007)
Galitska Synagogue

According to Wikipedia,
"The synagogue was built in 1909 in a Moorish style. The facade is neo-romanticist, with neo-Byzantine elements. The building was devastated during the World War II by the Nazis. For the next fifty years it was used an ammunition storage. It was renovated in 2001 and it is still active today."

 

 
KIEV, UKRAINE (2007)
Great Choral  (Podil) Synagogue
Shchekavitskaya Street

 According to Wikipedia,
"
The synagogue was built 1895 and reconstructed in 1915. Gabriel Jakob Rozenberg and Wladimir Gorazjewitsch Ginzburg, two merchants, financed the building. It was built in an Aesopian style. The building was defiled during the World War II by Nazis."

 
KIROVOHRAD (ELIZAVETGRAD), UKRAINE
Choral Synagogue

KOVEL, UKRAINE (2006)


The building still stands, and it is a textile factory.


*
LUTSK, UKRAINE *1
The Fortress Synagogue

Built in 1626. An-sky Collection.
St. Petersburg Judaica Center
 
LVIV, UKRAINE (cir 1990s) *1, photo, left
on Ugolnaya Street

Center for Jewish Art. Hebrew University of Jerusalem
LVIV, UKRAINE (1998) *1, photo, left

This synagogue is currently active today.

 

LVIV, UKRAINE (1846)
Synagoga Tempel Lwów
 
The Tempel Synagogue was a Reform synagogue near Starji Rinok Square in Liviv, Ukraine. Lviv was one of the first Ukrainian cities to have a Reform Synagogue.

From Wikipedia.

 
LYUBOML, UKRAINE (1930)

The synagogue had many floors and was even taller than the city hall.
 

 
MINKOWITZ, UKRAINE

From right to left: Benye (Naftali's son), Mendel the watchmaker, Sonie Lipes, Yosel the ?, Abraham Moshe (Aaron's son), Sholem the shoycher, Yechezkel the shoemaker, Matye Yasye (Nokhum's son), Pinye the carpenter's son, Zalmen the Rabbi, Yankel (Khane Libe's son), Kapil (Sholem's son), Yisroel Badner, Yekl Pines, Abraham (Ortse's son), Itse the carpenter, Tsadik (Yasye Nokhum's son), Sender (the rabbi's son), and Meyer (Akiva Leyb's son).
 
NIKOLAEV, UKRAINE (1999) *1

returned synagogue

 
Novohrad Volynskyy, UKRAINE (2008)

The synagogue is on the left.
 
ODESSA, UKRAINE (2007)
Beit-Habad Synagogue
21, Remeslennaya (Osipova) Street

In the early 1800s, this building housed a charitable society and a tailors' synagogue. It was closed after 1920 and turned into a warehouse. Restored in 1992, the building houses this synagogue.
 
ODESSA, UKRAINE
Brodsky Synagogue
18, Zhukovsky Street

In the early 1800s, a large number of Jews moved to Odessa from areas in the former Austro-Hungarian Empire and Germany. "Brodsky" comes from the town of Brody that once stood in Galicia. The Brodsky Jews opened their own synagogue in Odessa in 1841. In 1863 the synagogue fell into disrepair and the Brodsky Jews built a new synagogue in a different location.
 
ODESSA, UKRAINE (2007)
Central Synagogue
25,
Evreyskaya (Jewish) Street

built in 1859 on site of former synagogue; closed after 1920; subsequently used as a sports facility for the city's
Pedagogical Institute. Restored to Jewish community, but currently in disrepair.
 
ODESSA, UKRAINE (1998) *1
14 , Olgievskaya Street

The "Dinamo" Factory. A former synagogue. Building in poor condition.

 
 
OSTROH (OSTROG), UKRAINE (2004)

Long since abandoned. Weeds growing where roof once was.
In the interior, Upright posts supported the wooden floors. stolen for firewood.
 

OSTROPOL, UKRAINE (rt. 1870)
PAVLIVKA, UKRAINE (1930)
Was Poryck, Poland before WWII.

Wooden synagogue.

 

RIVNE (ROVNO), UKRAINE (1998) *1  (photo, top left only)
ROZHISHCHE, UKRAINE (1991)
Was Rożyszcze, Poland before WWII.

Wooden synagogue. Tomb memorializing perished Jewish community. Located in Holon, Israel.
 

 
SHEPETIVKA, UKRAINE (2004)
SHPANOV, UKRAINE (1943)
Was Szpanow, Poland before WWII.

Wooden synagogue.

 
SUKHOSTAV, UKRAINE (1910)
Was Suchostaw, Poland before WWII.

Wooden synagogue.

 
TERNOPIL, UKRAINE (cir 1920s)  
VINNYTSYA (VINNITSA), UKRAINE (1998) *1

after restoration
 
VORONEZH, UKRAINE (2000) *1  
ZASTAVNA, UKRAINE  
ZHOVKVA (ZOLKIEW), UKRAINE

synagogue and house of the rabbi

 
ZHYTOMYR (ZHITOMIR), UKRAINE (1998) *1

synagogue and house of the rabbi

 

 

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

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


 

 


Home       |       Site Map       |      Exhibitions      |      About the Museum       |       Education      |      Contact Us       |       Links











Copyright © 2008-10. Museum of Family History.  All rights reserved. 
Image Use Policy.