Ukraine: Golden Rose Synagogue ruins NOT under threat of demolition (though as has been the case for years, longterm care remains uncertain)

L'viv, Ukraine. Remains of Golden Rose synagogue. Photos: Samuel Gruber, 2008).

L'viv, Ukraine. Explaining the archaeology at the Gold Rose synagogue. Photo: Samuel Gruber, 2008.

Ukraine: Golden Rose Synagogue ruins NOT under threat of demolition (though as has been the case for years, long-term care remains uncertain)

There has been a lot of concern about the fate of the ruins of the Golden Rose Synagogue in L'viv, Ukraine, based on the circulation of a misunderstood that implied the imminent destruction of the site. That is not the case... the construction is on an nearby site...and includes archaeological investigations that I, among others, requested. However, overall concern for the long-term future of the entire former old Jewish quarter of L'viv is justified, and this occasion is a good opportunity to widen the discussion beyond the small number who for many years have advocated protection and preservation of the area.

For now, read Ruth Gruber's recent JTA article for the current situation. I will post more about the background and future of the areas in upcoming days.

--- Sam Gruber

Ukrainian mayor says synagogue ruins are not threatened

September 9, 2011

WARSAW (JTA) -- The mayor of the Ukrainian city of Lviv denied reports that the preserved remains of the historic Golden Rose synagogue were being destroyed to make way for a controversial hotel.

"I want to reassure everyone that no construction has ever taken place at the site of the Golden Rose," Lviv's mayor, Andriy Sadovyy, said in his statement.

"Construction of a hotel in the neighboring Fedorova Street, which has drawn criticism from some civic organizations’ representatives, has nothing to do with the site of the former Synagogue,” he said.

The mayor also said that plans were going ahead for new memorials to Lviv Jews murdered in the Holocaust.

The Golden Rose synagogue was largely destroyed during World War II; what remains are its foundations and a wall bearing arches.

On August 19, a Lviv district court ordered the Ukrainian Investment Company, the hotel's builder and investor, to "stop any preparatory and construction works on the plot" on Fedorova Street and "vacate building machines from this territory."

The site of the envisaged hotel does not directly touch the Golden Rose ruins. But critics charge that it could compromise a mikvah, the foundations of a former kosher butchery and other buildings in the old Jewish quarter.

“It is a disgrace,” said Meylakh Sheykhet, the Ukranian director of the Union Council of ex-Soviet Jews, in a statement. “They are building the hotel over the very places where there are Jewish artifacts buried and where the mikvah once stood.”

The mayor's press office said that his statement had been issued in response to an article by Tom Gross published by The Guardian newspaper and other international media outlets. Gross' article was headlined "Goodbye, Golden Rose."

In The Guardian, Gross wrote: "Last week I watched as bulldozers began to demolish the adjacent remnants of what was once one of Europe's most beautiful synagogue complexes, the 16th-century Golden Rose in Lviv."

Although the "adjacent remnants" to which Gross referred apparently did not mean the actual preserved ruins of the synagogue building, many readers were left with the impression that the synagogue itself was threatened. Other media outlets picked up the story and reported that the synagogue was being destroyed. Even Wikipedia at one point stated, "It [the Golden Rose Synagogue] was illegally demolished by the government of Ukraine in 2011 to build a hotel."

“After the publication of this information we have received inquiries from various countries of the world about the situation of the ruins of the Golden Rose Synagogue," Sadovyy said.

Sadovyy's statement noted that Lviv staged an international architectural competition last year for memorials to mark three sites of Jewish history in the city. Winners, announced in December, came from Israel, the United States and Germany.

One of the sites, the so-called Synagogue Square, includes the ruins of the Golden Rose and the space in front of it where another synagogue and a beit midrash once stood. Sadovyy said that an international group of experts "is at work" on this project. JTA has learned that Jewish representatives and city officials will meet in Lviv next month to discuss how and when to implement construction of the memorial there.

"It is extremely important to us, that, together with the Jewish community, civic organizations and everybody concerned with the fate of Lviv heritage, we resolve the issue of Synagogue fragments’ conservation as well as the issue of their worthy setting," Sadovyy said.

Publication: New Book on Lviv (Lemberg, Lwow) Synagogues

Publication: New Book on Lviv (Lemberg, Lwow) Synagogues

(ISJM) A new book by architectural historian Oksana Boyko (in Ukrainian) has been published by VNTL-Klasyka Publishers that documents the history and architecture of the known synagogues - standing and destroyed - of Lviv (now Ukraine) the former Jewish religion and culture capital of Galicia also known as Lemberg (German) and Lwow (Polish). The book's publication coincided with the conference at the Center for Urban History of East Central Europe that presented, for the first time in Ukraine, the Urban Jewish history of L'viv and other centers in the a broad multi-discipline context.

Boyko, of the Institute Ukrzakhiproektrestavratsia (Institute for Protection of Monuments) in Lviv, has compiled information, original plans and drawings and a range of photographic materials that provide a partial documentation of the city's many former synagogues and prayer houses. All but two of these were destroyed during the German occupation of the city. One synagogue - the Tsori Gilod prayer house built between 1924 and 1931 still stands and is in use. Another synagogue in the Jewish settlement area of the "Zhovkva suburb" is also extant, but is used only as the site of a Jewish club that meets only occasionally. The famous TaZ or Golden Rose synagogue remains a partial ruin in the area of the Old Jewish Quarter. The fate of this historic building was much discussed at the conference and will be the subject of a future blog entry.

Boyko's work is not long, and I hope it will soon be translated. In the meantime, the many illustrations are themselves instructive. Thanks to the bureaucratic diligence of Hapsburg Lemberg, good measured plans and drawings exist in the archives for many of the buildings discussed, including the important domed classical style Temple, built in the 1840s (photo, above), which if it survived would probably be referred to by scholars and visitors almost as much as the Seitenstettengasse synagogue in Vienna, which influenced the Lemberg Reform Temple design. .

The book is presently only available in Ukraine. The ISBN number is: 966-8849-30-2. To order contact VNTL-Klasyka Publishers at order@vntl.com or go to www.vntl.com

Ukraine: New Developments in Jewish Quarter in L'viv

Ukraine: New Developments in Jewish Quarter in L'viv
by Samuel D. Gruber

(ISJM) It is period of uncertainty for the future of the Jewish quarter of L'viv, Ukraine, as properties in and around the historic district become available for new development, including lots adjacent to the site of the 16th century Golden Rose Synagogue. So, last week in L'viv, protagonists involved in the planning and development of the future of the city's historic Jewish neighborhood (part of the larger historic center which is a UNESCO designated World Heritage Site) gathered together for a "roundtable" discussion sponsored by .The Center for Urban History of East Central Europe (see: http://www.lvivcenter.org/). Part of the regular Kolo Lvova series, last month's topic was "Around Staroevreiska Street: At the Heart of Lviv's Jewish Heritage," and drew about 20 people, most of whom are in some way stakeholders in the future of the area. This discussion was seen as an important step forward for a area with a contested history, and where there has been a lack of clear process in planning efforts.

Later this fall (October 29-31) The Center for Urban History will also host an exhibition about historic Jewish L'viv (also known as Polish Lvov and Austrian Lemberg) and an international conference "Urban Jewish Heritage and History in East Central Europe."

Participants in last week's discussion included a representative of the city administration; Jewish activist Meylakh Shekhet, who heads the "Yevreiske Vidrodzhennia" (Jewish Revival & Rekindling the Jewish Flame), a Jewish cultural organization housed in premises adjacent to the historic Golden Rose (or TaZ) Synagogue; and Yuri Lukomski, the local archaeologist now at work excavating lots in the area. There were also several writers, artists, and museum experts present.

Importantly, the meeting also drew the local developer who recently purchased a property north of the former synagogue with the intent of constructing a hotel. That project and its impact on the
archaeological record and on the overall appearance of the neighborhood has been the cause of great concern. It is hoped that public interest – locally and internationally – in the fate of the
district will convince the developer to cooperate with local historians, archaeologists and preservationists to create a project appropriate for the location.

The Center for Urban History provides a "neutral" space in L'viv where complex and often conflicting attitudes towards the city and its history can be explored. While there was no specific goal for the discussion, and no specific results came of it, the organizers and participants believe it is an important stage in developing a consistent and open process. . Tarik Amar, Academic Director of the Center, reports that there are plans to form a group of those interested in Jewish heritage to continue these discussions.

I will be reporting more about Jewish L'viv in upcoming posts.