After three years of fund-raising and planning, work has begun to develop the ruins of a synagogue in Bobruisk, Belarus as an open-air Jewish cultural heritage site and museum.
The Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS reported May 30 that:
The two-storied remains of the old synagogue will be preserved and renovated, with stained-glass windows and painting filling the window apertures. Next to it will be an open space dedicated to interactive events, expositions, and activities. The community hopes that in the following years an open-air museum dedicated to the rich history of Jews in Bobruisk will also become a part of the installation.
It quoted Babruisk Chief Rabbi and Chabad emissary Shaul Hababo as saying, “Belarus is a country with a unique Jewish past, and yet there aren’t many places that carry this heritage to the wider public, and we would like our Bobruisk ‘Jewish court’ to fill in this void.”
Concept drawings posted on the Federation web site show that the surviving walls would be restored to serve as an anchor enclosing part of the new exhibition and event space, which also would include several pavilions.
According to the Jewish Heritage Research Group in Belarus, the synagogue was built at the beginning of the 20th century. The Center says it was closed by the Soviet regime in 1932 and was used as a mill. It was left a ruin, with only parts of the walls standing, after a fire in 1969.
As we reported at the time, the ruins were transferred to the community by the regional government in 2015.
The Center for Jewish Art — which has posted a series of pictures of the ruins, located at 31 Chongarskaya St. — carried out a full documentation of the building in the early 2000s, which provides a slightly different history. The full documentation can be read HERE.
As documented by the Jewish Heritage Research Group and the Center for Jewish Art, several other synagogue buildings stand in Bobruisk, including one that is used by today’s Jewish community.
Read full article on the FJC web site
1 comment on “Belarus: Development of Bobruisk synagogue ruins under way as anchor of open-air Jewish cultural heritage site”
In the early 1950s and until the mid-1960s, there was a mill inside these walls, where my uncle Berl Raskin worked. I visited there often with his son Victor. There were always a lot of carts in the yard in summer and sleighs in winter. It was peasants from nearby villages who brought their crops for grinding. We hung around there and they always treated us to lard. ALL THIS LEFT GOOD MEMORIES FOR THE WHOLE LIFE.
Leonid Raskin is 78 years old. Los Angeles…April 10, 2024