A small synagogue in an outlying neighborhood of Budapest sustained heavy damage in a fire. The blaze, which broke out the night of October 24 in the synagogue in Budapest’s 14th district, Zuglo, gutted the sanctuary, destroyed the synagogue’s Torah scrolls and prayer books and caused serious damage to the ark and other furniture and fittings.
No-one was injured, and according to the main Hungarian umbrella Jewish organization Mazsihisz and other reports, the cause seems to have been an electrical fault.
The synagogue is located at Thököly utca 83 in a late 19th century mansion, which was converted to a synagogue in the 1930s. It is one of about 20 active synagogues in Budapest.
Mazsihisz has opened a fundraising campaign to restore the building and aid the small Neolog congregation, and it reported that many organizations and congregations had offered help, both toward the restoration of the synagogue and to the congregation. It said a Methodist group had offered to provide funding for the construction of a new Ark.
See a JTA story about the fire
See pictures of the synagogue before the fire at zsinagogak.hu