Restoration of the facades, roof, and walls of the long-disused synagogue in Čekiškė synagogue is being completed, though major work has yet to begin on the interior — which conserves traces of murals, the newly revealed foundations of the bimah, and a marvellous neo-Baroque colonnaded Ark, decorated with paintings.
The restoration is being carried out on order of the state Cultural Infrastructure Center (KIC), in cooperation with the Jewish community in nearby Kaunas. It is funded by the Culture Ministry’s Heritage Management Program, with contributions from the Kaunas District Municipality, KIC said.
“A dilapidated, abandoned synagogue is brought back to life,” KIC said on its web site.
The Jewish community in Kaunas hopes that it eventually can be used for services again, and also could host a museum of local Jewish history.
Jews settled in Čekiškė in the 17th century, and before World War I made up 60 percent of the population. The red brick synagogue is believed to have been built at the end of the 19th century. Left abandoned after the Holocaust, it was used for grain storage in the Soviet period. It was listed as a regional monument of cultural heritage in 2010.
“In 2006, local people still recalled the bright and richly colored interior, which had been visible before the building was converted into a kolkhoz granary,” according to the Center for Jewish Art.
KIC said that examination of the building in 2014 showed that it was in danger of collapse, due to damage to the wooden structures supporting the roof by insects, rot, and wood fungus.
“In 2018, historical, architectural, structural and other studies were carried out, a project for heritage protection works (restoration, conservation, repair) was prepared, and then the works began,” it said.
As a first step in the renovation, it said, the Kaunas Jewish community removed around 10 tons of accumulated rubbish from the building.
“The foundations and facades of the synagogue were restored, the decayed masonry was rebuilt, the gable roof was repaired and covered with a new zinc sheet, its wooden structures were repaired, and a rain drainage system was installed,” KIC director Šarūnas Šoblinskas said in the KIC web site article.
New doors (soon to be replaced) and windows were also made, and the outdoor gallery was restored. Inside the synagogue, the ceiling was installed, the walls of the women’s gallery were restored, and other works were carried out. In short, all the vital constructions of the building have been fixed.
Mauša Bairakas, head of the Kaunas Jewish religious community, said in the KIC post that he hoped that the work will continue, and that the interior of the synagogue will also be repaired.
Catalogue” Archives, Photographer: Vitalij Červiakov, 2006
This would include restoration of the Ark, a brick and plaster structure with which is richly decorated with columns and pilasters, and paintings of plants, animals, birds, musical instruments, and representions of the 12 Tribes of Israel.
We also want to preserve the bimah, which was discovered in the center of the synagogue after the work was started, by covering it with thick tempered glass, so that we can see how everything looked before. Once the interior of the synagogue is repaired, services could be held there – rabbis and believers would come.
Bairakas said that the community had “applied to Kaunas district municipality with a request to return the synagogue to the Jewish religious community. It turned out that as soon as its documents were processed, it formally had no owners. The Kaunas district municipality very kindly handed over the documents to us; we applied to the court and it granted us the right of management. Now we continue to process the documents to restore the property.”
We also met with the local community, we asked them to let us continue to work and rebuild the synagogue. We discussed that if it is repaired, it could serve not only the needs of the Jews, but also the needs of the local community,