The Choral Synagogue of Vilnius ( lt, Vilniaus choralinÄ— sinagoga) is the only synagogue in
Vilnius
Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...
that is still in use. The other synagogues were destroyed partly during World War II, when
Lithuania was occupied by Nazi Germany, and partly by the
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
authorities after the war.
The Choral Synagogue of Vilnius was built in 1903.
The synagogue is built in a
Romanesque-
Moorish
The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages.
Moors are not a distinct or se ...
style.
It is the only active synagogue that survived both
the Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
and
Soviet rule in this city that once had over 100 synagogues.
[ During the occupation of Lithuania by the Soviet Union the synagogue was nationalised and turned into a metal factory.] Resulting from this usage the building suffered considerable damage. It was restored in 2010 and opened again as a synagogue shortly thereafter. International donations and a small community of Jews in Vilnius support the synagogue. The synagogue holds services and is open to visitors.[
In 2019, the synagogue along with the Jewish community headquarters was temporarily closed due to threats from ]right-wing
Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authorit ...
groups. The decision coincided with a rise in antisemitic rhetoric related to public debate about honoring Lithuanian collaborators.
Gallery
File:'Choral Synagogue' Vilnius - Flickr - FaceMePLS.jpg, Synagogue interior
File:8 Vilnius- Synagogue Chorale-DSC05176.JPG, Synagogue interior
File:8 Vilnius- Synagogue Chorale-DSC05178.JPG, Synagogue interior
File:1916 Vilniaus choral Synagoge adj.jpg, Synagogue in 1916
See also
* Zamelis Synagogue
* Great Synagogue of Vilna
The Great Synagogue of Vilna, which once stood at the end of Jewish Street (I-2), Vilnius, Lithuania, was built between 1630 and 1633 after permission was granted to construct a synagogue from stone. Standing on the spot of an existing synagogue ...
References
External links
Lithuanian Jewish community
Ashkenazi Jewish culture in Lithuania
Ashkenazi synagogues
Orthodox Judaism in Lithuania
Orthodox synagogues
Synagogues in Vilnius
Synagogues completed in 1903
Judaism in Vilnius
Romanesque Revival synagogues
Moorish Revival synagogues
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