Kaunas Synagogue

Kaunas Synagogue (Lithuanian: Kauno choralinė sinagoga) is one of two operating choral synagogues in Lithuania.[1] It is located in Centras eldership, Kaunas. The Neo-Baroque synagogue was built in 1872.[1] In 1902, before the Holocaust in Lithuania, it was one of over 25 synagogues and Jewish prayer houses in the city.[2] The radically designed synagogue claims to have one of the most beautiful arks in the entire Jewish world.

For similarly named synagogues, see Choral Synagogue.
Kaunas Synagogue
Religion
AffiliationOrthodox Judaism
StatusActive
Location
LocationCentras eldership, Kaunas, Lithuania
Geographic coordinates54°53′55″N 23°54′12″E
Architecture
Architect(s)Justyn Golinewicz
TypeSynagogue
StyleBaroque Revival
Groundbreaking1871
Completed1872

The plot for the new synagogue was bestowed to the Kovno Jewish community by the merchant Lewin Boruch Minkowski, the father of Oskar Minkowski and Hermann Minkowski; until 1873 he also subsidized the major part of its construction.[3][4] A memorial to the estimated 50,000 Lithuanian Jewish children killed during the Holocaust can be found at the rear of the building, complete with 37 stone tablets showing in which towns and cities they lost their lives and just how many of them died in each one.

On 20 April 2011, the anniversary of Hitler's birthday, a sign saying "Jews out" and "Hitler was right" ("Juden raus" "Hitleris buvo teisus") were hung in front of the synagogue, seen as a clearly anti-Semitic act by many.[5]

  • Inside the Synagogue
  • Inside the Synagogue
  • Inside the Synagogue
  • Inside the Synagogue
  • Inside the Synagogue
  • Inside the Synagogue
  • Memorial honoring dead Jewish soldiers from Kaunas during World War I and Holocaust victims, inside the Synagogue.

References
  1. "Įspūdingiausios Lietuvos sinagogos" (in Lithuanian). Žydai Lietuvoje. 2008-01-23. Archived from the original on 2014-01-20. Retrieved 2009-11-07.
  2. "Kovno". Jewish Encyclopedia. 1905.
  3. Synagoga chóralna w Kownie
  4. Kaunas: Dates and Facts (1872)
  5. "Kaune prie sinagogos neonaciai pakabino plakatą su šūkiais "Juden raus" ir "Hitleris buvo teisus", Vilniuje plevėsavo nacių vėliavos (dar papildyta, nuotraukos)". Klasikinis lrytas.lt. Archived from the original on 19 February 2013. Retrieved 6 October 2012.


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