Kaunas Synagogue

Kaunas Synagogue
Kaunas Synagogue
	Synagogue façade
Religion
Affiliation	Orthodox Judaism
Status	Active
Location
Location	Centras eldership, Kaunas, Lithuania
Geographic coordinates	54°53′55″N 23°54′12″E / 54.89861°N 23.90333°E / 54.89861; 23.90333
Architecture
Architect(s)	Justyn Golinewicz
Type	Synagogue
Style	Baroque Revival
Groundbreaking	1871
Completed	1872

Kaunas Synagogue (Lithuanian: Kauno choralinė sinagoga) is one of two operating choral synagogues in Lithuania.^[1] It is located in Centras eldership, Kaunas. The Neo-Baroque synagogue was built in 1872.^[1] In 1902, before the Holocaust in Lithuania, it was one of over 25 synagogues and Jewish prayer houses in the city.^[2] The radically designed synagogue claims to have one of the most beautiful arks in the entire Jewish world.^{[citation needed]}

The plot for the new synagogue was bestowed to the Kovno Jewish community by the merchant Lewin Boruch Minkowski, the father of Oskar Minkowski and Hermann Minkowski; until 1873 he also subsidized the major part of its construction.^[3]^[4] A memorial to the estimated 50,000 Lithuanian Jewish children killed during the Holocaust can be found at the rear of the building, complete with 37 stone tablets showing in which towns and cities they lost their lives and just how many of them died in each one.

On 20 April 2011, the anniversary of Hitler's birthday, a sign saying "Jews out" and "Hitler was right" ("Juden raus" "Hitleris buvo teisus") were hung in front of the synagogue.^[5]

Gallery

At the entrance to the Synagogue
Structure on top of the roof of the Synagogue
General view
Holocaust memorial in front of the synagogue
Inside the Synagogue
Inside the Synagogue
Inside the Synagogue
Inside the Synagogue
Inside the Synagogue
Inside the Synagogue
Plaques with the names of Jewish soldiers from Kaunas fallen in World War I and Holocaust victims.

References

^ a b "Įspūdingiausios Lietuvos sinagogos" (in Lithuanian). Žydai Lietuvoje. 2008-01-23. Archived from the original on 2014-01-20. Retrieved 2009-11-07.
^ "Kovno". Jewish Encyclopedia. 1905.
^ Synagoga chóralna w Kownie
^ Kaunas: Dates and Facts (1872)
^ "Kaune prie sinagogos neonaciai pakabino plakatą su šūkiais "Juden raus" ir "Hitleris buvo teisus", Vilniuje plevėsavo nacių vėliavos (dar papildyta, nuotraukos)". Klasikinis lrytas.lt. Archived from the original on 19 February 2013. Retrieved 6 October 2012.

External links

Virtual panorama of the synagogue

54°53′55″N 23°54′12″E / 54.89861°N 23.90333°E / 54.89861; 23.90333

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[zydai-1] "Įspūdingiausios Lietuvos sinagogos" (in Lithuanian). Žydai Lietuvoje. 2008-01-23. Archived from the original on 2014-01-20. Retrieved 2009-11-07.

[je-2] "Kovno". Jewish Encyclopedia. 1905.

[3] Synagoga chóralna w Kownie

[4] Kaunas: Dates and Facts (1872)

[5] "Kaune prie sinagogos neonaciai pakabino plakatą su šūkiais "Juden raus" ir "Hitleris buvo teisus", Vilniuje plevėsavo nacių vėliavos (dar papildyta, nuotraukos)". Klasikinis lrytas.lt. Archived from the original on 19 February 2013. Retrieved 6 October 2012.