Archaeological excavation is due to begin in March on the site of Brno’s destroyed Great Synagogue, as part of a series of initiatives commemorating the synagogue, which was built in 1853-1855 and torched by the Nazis in March 1939..
“The aim is to uncover the preserved foundations of the synagogue and to gain new knowledge about its form and extinction,” Michal Přichytal, director of the Institute of Archaeological Heritage Care in Brno, which will conduct the excavation, said on the South Moravian Region web site. Any material discovered, he added, will be exhibited.
Designed in historicist neo-Romanesque style by the Vienna-based architects Johann Roman and August Schwendenwein, the Great Synagogue was a monumental building with a distinctive arched gable and an ornate interior with three tiers of women’s galleries.
“Given that no furnishings were removed from the building before the fire, we expect to find not only the exact floor plan of the building but also its parts, albeit damaged by fire. We hope to discover some architectural elements of the building,” Přichystal said on the archiweb.cz web site.
The “extensive archaeological research” beginning in March “will be followed by commemorative and cultural events,” the South Moravian Region said on its web site.
“All the partners of the memorandum decided together to look for ways to permanently commemorate its demise in the space as an expression of fatal manifestations of anti-Semitism and hatred,” František Lukl, Deputy Governor for Culture, Heritage and Tourism, said on the SMR web site.
From March to June, the ŠTETL Centre for Jewish Culture, operating at the Jewish Community of Brno, will organize guided tours at the excavation site, and the site and destroyed synagogue will be the focus of the annual Štetl Fest Jewish culture festival in August.
“The Jewish community came out of the war existentially and humanly destroyed. More than ten thousand Jewish residents of the city of Brno were murdered in concentration camps. During the Holocaust, the Jewish community was forced to sell the land on which the synagogue was originally located. The sale of the land was not a free decision, but a necessity that allowed the restoration of basic religious and community life,” Jáchym Kanarek, chairman of the Jewish Community of Brno, said on the SMR web site. “Today, at a time of growing anti-Semitism, we consider it important to return to this place and openly name its story.”