The Synagogue of Čekiškė () is a former

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

congregation and

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

, located at 16 Ateities Street, in

Čekiškė Čekiškė is a small town in Kaunas County in central Lithuania, it is located about north-west of Kaunas city municipality Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic s ...

, in the Kaunas District Municipality of

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

. Designed in the

Historicist Historicism is an approach to explaining the existence of phenomena, especially social and cultural practices (including ideas and beliefs), by studying the process or history by which they came about. The term is widely used in philosophy, ant ...

style, the building was completed in 1887 and operated as a synagogue until it was devastated by

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

in 1941. Subsequently used for profane purposes, the building was restored during 2023.

Structure

The synagogue is an unplastered, red brick structure. It has two main volumes, and is covered with a gable roof of asbestos sheets laid on top of old shingles. The synagogue has a rectangular footprint. It consists of a spacious prayer hall on the eastern side and a two-story western volume, the ground floor of which houses a vestibule and one small room, and the upper floor was the women's section. The main entrance to the synagogue is situated on the southern façade. An outer wooden staircase leading to the women's section was most likely attached to the western façade. Foundations of some later annexes can be traced westwards from the today's western wall. The synagogue's exterior has been mostly preserved. The interior is divided by brick walls into the eastern prayer hall and two western rooms, above which the women's section was situated. The northwestern room apparently served as a small prayer and study room, since there is a niche with a protruding wooden frame in its eastern wall that looks like a small Torah ark.

History

On July 22, 1887, a fire destroyed the majority of the infrastructure of Čekiškė, with only three buildings remaining. The majority of the population at the time were Jewish families. After the fire, the Synagogue of Čekiškė was rebuilt and remained unchanged to this day, although it is no longer in use. After WWII, the synagogue was abandoned for a long time. During occupation by

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

the building was converted into a

kolkhoz A kolkhoz ( rus, колхо́з, a=ru-kolkhoz.ogg, p=kɐlˈxos) was a form of collective farm in the Soviet Union. Kolkhozes existed along with state farms or sovkhoz. These were the two components of the socialized farm sector that began to eme ...

granary. In 2010 the building has been listed as regional monument of cultural heritage. In 2020, a project to renovate the synagogue was decided by the Jewish community of Kaunas, joined by the Municipality of Kaunas. The restoration of the exterior parts of the synagogue was completed during the summer of 2023.

References

External links

19th-century synagogues in Lithuania Ashkenazi Jewish culture in Lithuania Ashkenazi synagogues Buildings and structures in Kaunas County

Synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

Former synagogues in Lithuania Historicist architecture {{Lithuania-synagogue-stub

Structure

History

See also

References

External links