The sad saga of the long-derelict 17th century Great Synagogue in Slonim continues…. The building, classed as a historic and cultural monument, has been sold again at auction — for a mere 42 Belarus rubles, or about €12.
The sale was held by online auction February 22 by the state’s Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange (BUTB). It registered only one bidder for the property. According to Belarus media, the purchaser was a Russian whose name was not released.
Built in 1642 in the Baroque style, the synagogue is the best preserved synagogue in Belarus, despite its precarious condition. Its interior preserves frescoes, a decorated Ark, and a four-pillar bimah, as well as other features.
Purchase of the synagogue comes with strict conditions given the synagogue’s status as a historic monument. These include developing a concrete plan for reconstruction and major restoration within two years and carrying out the work within five years. Restoration must preserve “the artistic, stylistic and design features of the building.”
Failure to comply with either deadline means that the building would return to the ownership of the Slonim district executive committee, with no compensation to the buyer.
That is what happened after the person who bought it at the end of 2020, a musician/writer from Minsk named Ilona Karavaeva, who goes by the pen-name Ioanna Reeves, could not raise funds to restore it. She had bought the synagogue for around €9,000.
The February 22 auction was the latest in a series of auctions which have seen the price of the building drop to — this time — almost nothing.
Read about the purchase in local media Onliner
See the official auction report on the BUTB web site