Belarus: Ivenetz Update - Synagogue Adaptive Reuse Begins

Ivanetz, Belarus. New door and window shutters on former synagogue. Photos: Jewish Heritage Research Group in Belarus

Belarus: Ivenetz Update - Synagogue Adaptive Reuse Begins

In May 2009 I wrote about the need to save the wooden synagogue of Ivanetz, Belarus. At that time local Jewish activists and preservationists were determining the feasibility of the project.
The building was used as a movie theater from the 1950s to the 1980s, and then as a dance club. Ironically and tragically, given the fate of the Ivenetz Jewish community, the last tenant was a private business which produced tombstones. The Belarus Jewish community obtained the building last year, and now the Jewish Heritage Research Group in Belarus is restoring it for use, probably as a Jewish research center and archive of Ivenets and region, as well as a Holocaust educational center.

I am happy to report that Yuri Dorn, Coordinator of Jewish Heritage Research Group in Belarus writes that the restoration project of the Ivenetz synagogue is moving forward. This summer a front door has been replaced and exterior protection blinds have been installed on part of the windows of the building. The next phase is to build the fence and to restore the original facade of the building.

Contributions are welcome to continue this work. Even small amounts can make a difference.

For more information about Jewish heritage sites in Belarus or to contribute to this project go to:www.jhrgbelarus.org

Belarus: Students Help Clean Jewish Cemeteries

Ivenetz, Belarus. Remains of Jewish Cemetery in 2003. Photo provided by Jewish Heritage Research Group in Belarus

Belarus: Students Help Clean Jewish Cemeteries
by Samuel D. Gruber

(ISJM) I am a little late posting a link Judith Matloff's December article about the desperate need for care for abandoned Jewish cemeteries in Belarus from The Forward, but the situation has hardly changed in two months. I've written about the dire situation in Belarus before especially regarding former synagogues. The situation with cemeteries is also serious, though is some ways more under control. The great damage to most Jewish cemeteries in Belarus was done in the past, and (most of) those cemeteries that were mostly likely to be destroyed during the Soviet period have been already been built over and bulldozed. But throughout the country there remain scores of rural cemeteries whose main enemy at the moment is time and weather, both of which have been taking their toll for years.

Due in part to their location and in part due to the still slow economy in autocratic Belarus, these places are neglected, but not are not under siege. In some ways the authoritarian system in Belarus adds some level of protection - if no resources. There is less individual entrepreneurship or land speculation, or local governmental initiative in Belarus that could threaten these places than was the case elsewhere in Central Europe, and is still true in Ukraine.

Politically, this is a good time to encourage intervention to clean, fence and otherwise protect the remaining Jewish cemeteries. But economically it is a bad time to find money for the in Belarus - and the precisely because of politics most potential foreign philanthropists and investors are understandably reluctant to send money. The result is that with some encouragement from small underfunded American and European organizations, the the initial enthusiasm of American Hillel students, the small Jewish community in Belarus has begun to work on their own to protect the Jewish heritage. They have the willingness, and increasingly the hands of young people to carry out some of the needed work. But they still lack needed funds for essential skilled work and supplies.

Read Judith's piece. Like most stories about recovering Jewish heritage in Eastern Europe it is poignant, with a ray of hope - the hope here is not that this is just a group of American college kids visiting for a few weeks to cut cemetery weeds (though there is nothing wrong with this) - but that it is home-grown effort. If there are individuals, organizations or congregations who would like to contribute to Jewish efforts in Belarus to save remnants of the past - as a way of building community identity today - contact me. I'll put you in touch with people in Minsk and elsewhere doing good work for little money.

With Student Help, Belarus Rescues Its Shtetl Graves

By Judith Matloff

Published November 24, 2010, issue of December 03, 2010.

Read more: http://www.forward.com/articles/133423/#ixzz1EgkHGROb

Gomel, Belarus — Somewhere beneath the birch trees lies the Jewish cemetery of Senno. The graves have been there for 350 years, but the markers are so sunken into the earth that they look like random stones. Moss covers the Hebrew letters, and few people know about the site, which is hidden from the road by the foliage. The only visitors are mosquitoes.

The scene repeats itself across the timeless, pristine landscape of Belarus. At least 70 shtetl graveyards lie forgotten, overgrown by pasture land and forests. No one has recited Kaddish at these spots since the Nazi invasion of Belarus in 1941. German troops killed nine out of 10 Jews in the country, and shtetl cemeteries deteriorated because of the absence of returnees after the war. The subsequent ban on worship by the Soviets discouraged interments in these sacred burial grounds.

Read more: http://www.forward.com/articles/133423/#ixzz1Egjxr2Qr

Belarus: Remaining Wooden Synagogue at Luban to be Designated Protected Site

Luban, Belarus. Surviving synagogue building.
Photo courtesy: Jewish Heritage Research Group in Belarus

Belarus: Remaining Wooden Synagogue at Luban to be Designated Protected Sites, ISJM Seeks Funds to Speed Up Belarus Synagogue Documentation
by Samuel D. Gruber

(ISJM) Last April and May, I reported on the unnecessary destruction of the wooden former synagogue in Luban (Lyubin), Belarus. At that time, there was also a second wooden building - now a music school - identified as a former synagogue. The destruction of one synagogue prompted research and appeals on behalf of the other, and now Yuri Dorn, Coordinator of Jewish Heritage Research Group in Belarus, reports that the surviving wooden synagogue in Luban will be included by the government preservation commission of historical and cultural heritage of Belarus on the list of objects under government protection.

At present, because of its use as music school, the building is not endangered. Many other synagogues in Belarus are, however, at risk. Some have been documented and even returned to the Jewish Community, but there are no funds for their restoration as Jewish synagogues or centers or their adaptive reuse. Many other former synagogue are hardly documented, and this is needed to preserve their history for the future, but also to better protect the buildings in the present. Archival documentations is needed, as well as the preparation of architectural plans and drawings. With proper documentation many of these buildings could be listed a protected sites and some might be developed as restoration and reuse projects.

ISJM in partnership with the Jewish Heritage Research Group in Belarus will support such documentation projects - provided funding. Contributions can be sent to ISJM - mark "Belarus" on the memo line. Our first funding goal the modest amount of $10,000 - but this will be sufficient to prepare substantial documentation on several sites.

For more information, contact me directly at samuelgruber@gmail.com

Belarus: Israeli Ambassador Urges Government to Assist in Restoration of Synagogues

Grodno (Hrodna), Belarus. Great Synagogue (1902-05). Photos: Wikipedia Commons

Belarus: Israeli Ambassador Urges Government to Assist in Restoration of Synagogues

(ISJM) Belarus News reported on November 11, 2009 that the Israeli ambassador to Belarus has urged the government to restore synagogues amid a “disastrous” shortage of prayer houses for Jewish communities in the country.

According to the article:

The Belarusian government should pay attention to deteriorating synagogues, which were built with contributions by the faithful, Ambassador Edward (Eddie) Shapira said at an international conference in Minsk.

“I do understand that there is no restitution law in the country, but there is a wave of religious revival and the state does not only return churches that once belonged to Orthodox Christian communities but also helps renovate them,” the ambassador said.

Mr. Shapira expressed concern about the condition of the “unique” three-story synagogue in Hrodna [Grodno]. Many tourists, including Jews, visit the city, but it is impossible to invite them to the synagogue hit by “devastation,” he said.

The ambassador also voiced alarm over what he called the unwillingness of law-enforcers to probe attempts to incite national hate “even when they are visible by the naked eye.”

He said that a swastika and an anti-Semitic text were sprayed on the building of the Jewish community in Slutsk, Minsk region, earlier this year, condemning the act as a vivid example of racism.

The ambassador called on the authorities to draw up regulations that would prevent immoderate construction work at old Jewish cemeteries and the sites of the WWII mass execution of Jews, and ensure that human remains discovered at such sites be reburied with proper rituals.

You can view this article online at VosIzNeias.com/41883

Copyright © 1999 - 2008 VosIzNeias.com - All rights reserved.

Of course, the ambassador's plea raises a host of sticky political and moral questions about government involvement in religion. On the one hand, Jewish and other groups are usually eager to see government support for synagogues and other Jewish religious and communal institutions - and such is a normal throughout much of Europe where the tradition of separation of church and state are not ingrained as part of the social and political cultures. On the other hand, these same groups fret about undo influence by government upon their activities, and on other forms of freedom of expression. How should be strike a balance?

On way, of course, is to look at the buildings that need to be restored. In Europe (but less so in America) governments are regularly involved in the protection, preservation and promotion of the historic buildings and other resources. When synagogues and other Jewish historic and architecturally significant buildings fall into this category, help should be provided to promote culture and history. I would never - however - support the government construction of synagogues (or churches or mosques for that matter). But in fact, in Belarus, as the ambassador points out the government does assist in the promotion of the Orthodox (Christian) church. But I would plea for the protection of historic synagogues based on their past - not on their future use. That issue is for Jews to decide (and to fund).

The Grodno synagogue is one of the most impressive in Belarus, and is situated in a major urban area. Just as the City of Warsaw has funded recent restoration of the Nosyk Synagogue, and the Hungarian government funded most of the expensive restoration of the Dohany Synagogue in Budapest, so too, can public funds assist in Grodno - which was returned to the Jewish Community of that city in 1991. The synagogue, however, was the site of intense communal rivalries in the years after its restitution. Disagreements over who would control the site and who would define the Jewish religious identity of Grodno were also factors that deterred international donors from embracing the project - as exactly the time when international attention was turning to places like Warsaw, Prague and Budapest. The Grodno Synagogue is now the Center of the city's Chabad movement, which is organizing its restoration. Today, Belarus is home to three main Jewish religious groups - the tradition Orthodox, the Chabad-Lubavich Orthodox, and a congregation of Progressive Jews. This confuses all requests for government support. Chabad has been more active (and successful) - especially in nearby Russia - in looking to government for recognition and active support. In neighboring Ukraine, which also lacks a restitution law, Chabad has also been the most organized and effective nationwide Jewish network - but there Chabad has mostly relied on private donors and the activism of local rabbis.

The lack of a proper restitution law in Belarus makes any general demand on the government for care of synagogues problematic. It would be better to fix the system and create a proper mechanism for the return and support of properties, than to bungle by on an ad hoc and reactive basis, and to beg for government largess. The problem in Belarus (and in other countries, too) is that governments are willing to "give back" older ruined and non-productive properties to Jewish communities, but they are reluctant - and even obdurate - to return useful income-producing properties. Thus, Jewish communities are after saddled with expensive historic properties, but no financial resource - and little or no government assistance - to maintain and restore them. This is like asking someone to make soup and giving them the ingredients, but no pot or fire.

What needs to be done is the proper and legal return of historic properties with the recognition that these properties are derelict due to more than a half century of neglect and or misuse by state or other non-Jewish users (appropriators). It is not enough to return a property, but the means also have to be attached to the property to make it whole again.

If an apple is stolen from a grocer, it does the grocer no good if only the apple core is returned.

I know that this is an expensive proposition - and its get more expensive all the time. But this is the system that we must lobby for. It is the only practical - and moral - solution. Governments add injury to insult when they return a ruined (historically designated) property to a Jewish community, and then within a short time threaten to penalize the community for not having maintained or restored the building - this after the government (or some predecessor government) neglecting the structure for decades. It is also wrong for governments to assume that just because a community will not or cannot maintain a property now, that it is forfeiting all claim on the building for all time. If such a scenario were carried out to its logical conclusion, than many governments themselves would find that they must forfeit many of their own buildings - since they are not maintained.

In places like Belarus is essential that a complete list of sites be compiled (this has already been done to a large degree), and that the conditions of the building, and its restoration needs be itemized, and that these be compared to potential uses for the building. This list then needs to be prioritized, and a small selection of sites be chosen for annual repair and restoration - sometimes by the Jewish community, sometimes by the government, sometimes by private entities - but mostly in the form of creative financing, use and lease or ownership arrangements involving all these parties. This can be done in many ways as examples from the Czech Republic and Poland demonstrate.

I will write more about the unusual architecture of the Grodno Synagogue in a future post.

Belarus: Jewish Cemetery at Volkovysk Dug Up for Water & Sewer Pipelines

Volkovysk, Belarus. Recent excavation of the Jewish cemetery.
Photos from http://www.volkovysk.blogspot.com

Belarus: Jewish Cemetery at Volkovysk dug Up for Water & Sewer Pipelines
by Samuel D. Gruber

(ISJM) The blogger http://www.volkovysk.blogspot.com/reports (in Russian) that excavation for new water and sewer pipelines in the Belarus town of Volkovysk unearthed Jewish burials in the Jewish cemetery. The cemetery was not fenced nor marked, but it is presumed that local authorities had some knowledge of its location. The construction firm obtained all necessary city permits to conduct the work. The excavation was not illegal according to local standards.

According to Yuri Dorn, Coordinator of Jewish Heritage Research Group in Belarus (JHRG) , there are about 20 gravestones still visible at the cemetery. The rest were used by the Nazis to pave a road to a local hospital. Presumably, most of those stones are still where they were placed in the road construction more than 60 years ago.

Tomorrow, the construction company plans to fill in the ditch with the new pipes, and to include the excavated bones. Jewish communal representatives are requesting that no action be taken until their arrival, so that reburial can be done under proper supervision. The JHRG will also try to arrange for a sign to mark the site. If they can get funds and permission, they will also erect a fence. Ideally, such intervention would be done proactively, not after the fact. But the reality of the situation - limited resources and many sites - makes this almost impossible in many cases.

This type of cemetery desecration is not uncommon in Belarus. It is the combined result of several factors:

• the long standing neglect of cemeteries
• public policy that for more than a half century has not recognized cemeteries without recent burials as protected sites
• ignorance on the part of local officials and others about local Jewish history and sites, and about Jewish religious laws regarding the sanctity of burials
• the inability of the Belarus Jewish community to document and adequately monitor the hundreds of Jewish sites throughout the country
• the lack of foreign (Western) presence and political and business pressure in Belarus for better policies
• lack of incentives to Belarus from abroad (EU, NATO, etc) to change its policies
  

For now, probably the best thing for those outside of Belarus to do is to write to the Belorussian embassies in their countries expressing concern about the continuing desecration of Jewish sites, and to request an explanation about why Belarus has not adopted policies to document, protect and preserve Jewish cemeteries.

Belarus: Jewish Cemetery in Borisov Vandalized (Again)

Old Jewish Cemetery, Borisov, Belarus.
Photo: Jewish Heritage Research Group in Belarus

Belarus: Jewish Cemetery in Borisov Vandalized (Again)

(ISJM) The Jewish Heritage Research Group in Belarus reports that two days ago the old Jewish cemetery in Borisov was vandalized and that 13 gravestones were destroyed. A complaint has been filed with the local police.

This is not the first time the cemetery has been desecrated. In July, 2002, 70 gravestones in the Jewish cemetery were damaged, in one of several acts against Jewish property in the city.

An undated description of the Borisov Jewish cemeteries by Eliyahu Tavger with attached lists of names of those buried there can be found here.

Belarus: Help Save the (Wooden) Synagogue in Ivenetz

Top three photos: Former synagogue of Ivenetz, Belarus.
Bottom: former rabbi's house.
Photos provided by Jewish Heritage Research Group in Belarus

Belarus: Help Save the (Wooden) Synagogue in Ivenetz
By Samuel D. Gruber

(ISJM) n.b. Yuri Dorn, Coordinator of Jewish Heritage Research Group in Belarus has provided information the synagogue and its current situation, which I have edited into this account.

Following the destruction last month of the former synagogue of Luban, Belarus, greater attention needs to be paid to the fate of other Jewish buildings in the country – especially buildings in good enough condition to save for new use without excessive cost. One of these buildings is the century-old wooden synagogue in the town Ivenetz (photos), which is the next building threatened with a new sale and potential demolition (to contribute see information at the end of this post). The building was used as a movie theater from the 1950s to the 1980s, and then as a dance club. Ironically and tragically, given the fate of the Ivenetz Jewish community, the last tenant was a private business which produced tombstones. The municipality, which owns the building, has contacted the Belarus Jewish community about plans to sell the site at auction.

At the end of the 19th century (1897) the total population of Ivenetz was 2,670; ad 1,343 of these were Jews. There were 2 active synagogues. (Today there are only four elderly Jews in the town.). In the summer of 1898 the local Jewish community obtained another parcel of land not far from the market square, the area where most of the Jews had settled. In the spring of 1899 group of 20 Jews including a Rabbi submitted request to the Minsk Governor to allow them to build a wooden synagogue on that land. They said that two existing synagogues had been built 70 and 40 years previously, and Jewish population since that time had grown and needed more room.

Construction permission for the new synagogue was received on August 6, 1899. It is not known when construction began, but on the 1912 list of buildings of Minsk uyezd (district) this building described as following: "New wooden synagogue in town Ivenetz, capacity up to 400 people….Single story building with interior balconies for women". When the Communists took over this part of Belarus in 1940 the synagogue was closed.

In June 1941, when the Germans occupied the town they collected all local Jews in a Ghetto, which they located on land of Catholic church. The wooden synagogue building was converted into the stables. When Ivenetz was liberated from Nazis in July 1944, only about 20 Jews returned to their homes, and the synagogue was not used.

Click here for images of Jewish Ivenetz

Click here for selections of the Ivenetz Yitzchor book

The synagogue remained empty until the mid-1950s when the local administration repaired the floor, put on a new roof, disassembled the women's balcony (which had been reached by an exterior stair, destroyed ten years ago) and installed electricity. The building was a movie theater from the late 1950s through the early 1970s and then a dance club until 2006.

The overall condition of the building is not bad. It is an attractive wooden structure. Few traces of its former Jewish use are visible, but at least one interior wall has painted decorations that were recently discovered and then painted over again. In the photo one can see traces of the faux-architecture. The interior space is ample and well lit with the original windows.

The Belarus Jewish community must now decide whether to claim the building – if they do not assert ownership, they will forfeit their rights, and the building will be put up for auction and sold. Most likely a new owner would acquire the building for commercial use (such as a store or small workshop or factory, etc), or demolish it for use of the land.

In order to adapt the 100-year old building for commercial use the new owner would need to invest a lot of money, since there are demanding building codes that have to be met for income-producing buildings that accommodate a large numbers. It is probably cheaper to demolish the building and use existing foundation to construct a new building with modern amenities. The synagogue building is situated in the center of town, where land is pretty expensive (by local standards). Since the land goes with the building, it would be a very attractive investment.

The local authorities in Iventz have done everything right (unlike the recent situation in Luban). They first asked the Belarus Jewish community about interest in the property. Refusal now by the community will protect the municipality from further claims and allegations in case if the building is eventually destroyed or rebuilt.

There are other traces of the Jewish past still visible in Ivenetz. The former rabbi’s house stands, now used as a music school, as well as about 30 other pre-War “Jewish” houses.

The old Jewish cemetery survives with about 400 intact matzevot. A few years ago volunteers from the Jewish Heritage Research Group in Belarus catalogued and photographed all the stones. Just recently another lot with an old Jewish cemetery was discovered in the town. This cemetery may date back to the beginning of 18th century, but it is hard to tell since so far only 2 surviving gravestones have been discovered. In the woods, not far from the town there is a Holocaust memorial, erected few years ago on the place of execution of Jews from Ivenetz and surrounding villages.

The local historical museum also has a section about the history of the local Jewish community, which Research Group hopes to see expanded through cooperation with the museum. Not far from the museum in a building formerly a Jewish smithy, is a craft center that sells local pottery and weaving, and where artisans demonstrate their work, and where visitors can try their hand at different crafts under expert supervision. This center is a local attraction for school groups and tourists, and local administration is planning to open more cultural attractions like this. Creating a Jewish Heritage Center in Ivenetz would fit in with this type of development

If the Belarus Jewish community does take possession of the former synagogue, they propose to develop it as a research and educational center, to focus on the history of Jewish Ivenetz and the Jeiwsh communities in surrounding places within a radius up to 50 km (30 miles), including Rakov (1,250 Jews before the Holocasut) , Derevnoe (450), Rubezhevichy (1,600), Volozhin (3,200), Volma (200), Kamen (400), Naliboki (380), Koidanovo (2,700). The plan calls for historical and genealogical information from various Belorussian archives will be channeled into this center. The information is unique - never published before. Extracted information will be translated into English. The Center’s genealogists will do this on a voluntary basis, but the idea is also to charge for some services to maintain costs of the Center. Plans are also to involve young people in these efforts, and preliminary arrangements have been made with the youth organization “Hillel”, which will send groups to Ivenetz to collect memoirs from local old residents and help with some construction work for the building.

The admirable intention to protection and preserve the Ivenetz synagogue within a broader vision of a regional Jewish Heritage Center has been inspired by similar projects in Poland, France, Italy, the Czech Republic and elsewhere. Even more than in those places, however, the Belarus has limited resources, and they are unable to leverage significant government funding. Nor are the eligible for EU support – something that this is beginning to really assist Jewish heritage projects elsewhere. On the other hand, the projected costs for this project are relatively modest.

How to Help

Documentation and research costs needed to put forward the legal to the building are less than $1,000 and the International Survey of Jewish Monuments has offered to advance this money from its Emergency Documentation Fund. Repair and adaptive reuse costs for the building over the next five years are estimated at less than $25,000 – a real bargain in these times. How the building will be sustained and how the Center will manage in the long term still needs to be addressed.

U.S. tax-deductible contributions to this project can be sent to:

International Survey of Jewish Monuments
P.O. Box 210,
120 Julian Place,
Syracuse, NY 13210.

Write “Ivenetz” on the check.

From Europe contributions can be made to
(I recommend make contact before sending or transferring money):

The Jewish Heritage Research Group in Belarus
220002 Minsk
13B Daumana St.
tel/375-173-345612
fax/375-173-343360
www.jhrgbelarus.org

Publication: Beautiful Book of Synagogue Images Published in Belarus

Publication: Beautiful Book of Synagogue Images Published in Belarus
by Samuel D. Gruber

(ISJM) Though times are tough for the former synagogues of Belarus (see recent posts about Kobrin and Luban, the legacy of synagogue architecture is not forgotten in that country. I have recently received a beautifully produced volume of high quality reproductions of historic postcards - 461 images altogether - representing several hundred views in scores of towns and cities of Eastern Europe and especially the former Soviet Union. For Belarus alone, postcards are reproduced of synagogues in Bereza-Kartuska, Bobruisk, Borisov, Brest, David-Gorodok, Derechin, Druya, Glubokoe, Gorodische, Grodno, Ivanovo, Ivye, Kletsk, Kozhan-Gorodok, Khomsk, Lida, Lumno, Minsk, Mir, Mogilev, Mstislavl, Narovlya, Nesvizh, Novaya Mysh, Novogrudok, Ozery, Orsha, Oshmyany, Pinsk, Polotsk, Pruzhany, Skidel, Slonim, Sopotskin, Stolovichi, Vitebsk, Volkovysk,Volpa, Zhlobin.

The book Synagogues: Jewish Life by Vladimir Likhodedov (Minsk: Riftur, 2007) [ISBN 978-985-6700-60-9] is both a tremendous resource and also a terrible reminder of the architectural, historic and religious legacy that has been lost through the destruction of the Soviet regime in the in the 1920s, during the Holocaust, and in the post-war Soviet era. Only a few of the buildings represented still, stand, and those are now in much-altered condition.

Still, for the most part, these postcards from the collection of Mikhail Tverdokhlebov, represent only the most scenic and monumental of synagogue buildings - those that were already seen in their time as both Jewish and local landmarks and tourist attractions. Thus, hundreds- probably thousands - of small shuls in big cities, and all the synagogues and prayer houses in smaller towns and villages remain unrecorded. The original appearance of many is lost forever - since they were never photographed at all. The Jewish Heritage Research Group in Belarus has in recent years endeavored to document those buildings still standing in Belarus, and some of their efforts can be seen on their website.

The author states that this volume is the first of a series called “Jewish Life,” of the project “Looking for Lost Values,” and that more books will come out soon to “introduce the reader to the world of Jewish History, culture and everyday routines.” We look forward to more works of this quality.

In recent years there have been several collections of synagogue and Judaica postcards. I invite readers to submit titles - I think it worthwhile to assemble a list of these publications.

Belarus: Photos of the Demolition of the Luban Synagogue

Belarus: Photos of the Demolition of the Luban Synagogue A Wake-up Call or Business as Usual?

Dovid Katz in Vilnius has forwarded photos by Alexandr Astraukh of the destruction of the Luban Synagogue. Can this be a wake-up call for better policies in Belarus and elsewhere? This was not a derelict building. It was not a ruined. It was not a forgotten site. It was sacrificed to the demands of contemporary development pressures where expediency and short term gain (to the public tax rolls or to a local politician's campaign war chest or private account) mean more than protecting history and architecture. No community in the world is immune to these pressures. Nor should every old building be saved. But there needs to be in place - in every community - procedures that allow time for review and reflection, and time for world to get out that a building is imperiled.

I call on all my readers to keep their eyes and ears open. Development deals are mostly hatched in secret and sprung quickly. Make sure the historic sites in your communities are documented and well known, so ignorance cannot be cited as an excuse for demolition and neglect. If a building is in trouble - physical or financial, or some other threat looms - let the world know.

Belarus: More on Demolition of Luban Synagogue

Former Synagogue Building in Luban, Belarus c. 2005.
Photos courtesy of Jewish Heritage Research Group in Belarus

Belarus: More on Demolition of Luban Synagogue
by Samuel D. Gruber

(ISJM) Yuri Dorn, Coordinator of Jewish Heritage Research Group in Belarus, has provided more information about the on-going demolition of the former synagogue in Luban, Belarus and has provided pictures of the impressive vernacular building, and of the memorial plaque. Demolition began last week, and as of yesterday the roof and its supporting system had been entirely removed. A vice-Mayor of Luban had informed the Research Group only a few days before of the demolition, and that "all legal procedures has been followed and all necessary permissions have been obtained." The former synagogue building will be replaced by a new large commercial structure - some sort of store.

According to Dorn, the Luban authorities did not inform Belarus Jewish community about planned demolition. He did not speculate why, but presumably they were either ignorant of the need to do so, or of any likely interest in the fate of the building, or they suspected that if word got out that their would be complaint. Based on my long experience in historic preservation I would assume the worst, and that is the reason for the rush to demolish, so that any protest will be too late. In 2004, the Jewish Community of Belarus tried unsuccessfully to include the Luban Synagogue building on the official registry of landmarks, but was unable to do so because of insufficient archival documentation about the building's history. Presumably it was not deemed eligible on architectural grounds alone.

Mr. Dorn warns of a similar situation is beginning to develop in Ivenets (Minsk district), where one of the three last wooden synagogue buildings in Belarus is under threat. ISJM will provide more information about that situation as soon as we learn more.

Belarus: Former Synagogue Demolished in Luban

Belarus: Former Synagogue Demolished in Luban
by Samuel D. Gruber

(ISJM) Associate Press writer Yuras Karmanau reports on the demolition of a former synagogue in Luban, Belarus. It is worth noting the history of the building had previously been recognized with a plaque. Local musuem officials are reporting that the building was not of value since it did not look like a synagogue - implying that there is a specific way that synagogues should look (not so!). I do not know this building, but I do know that historic and architectural preservation requires attention to a full range of building types - architecturally distinctive structures and typical vernacular ones - in order to present a balanced view of the past. There was time not long ago that 19th century buildings and modern-style buildings weren't deemed historic and worth protecting. Given the extensive destruction and loss of Jewish cultural, religious and other heritage sites in Belarus, every surviving site is a surrogate for those lost. Demolition should only be an extreme and last resort.

I hope this building was fully documented (I am trying to find photos now).

Belarus destroys synagogue of renowned rabbi

By YURAS KARMANAU, Associated Press

Fri Apr 24, 4:27 pm ET

LUBAN, Belarus – The roof has been removed and the windows stripped of their frames and glass. Piece by piece, workers are tearing down the former synagogue where a renowned rabbi served before fleeing the Soviet Union for New York in 1936.

Moshe Feinstein, considered one of the most influential Orthodox rabbis in the United States until his death in 1986, was the last rabbi to serve at the synagogue in this once predominantly Jewish town.

After his departure, the synagogue in Luban was taken over by Young Pioneers for the training of future communists. Within five years, most of the Jews were gone too, as almost the entire Jewish population was rounded up and shot by the invading Nazis in World War II.

Read the full story here.

Belarus: Kobrin Synagogue Restoration Project Needs Emergency Funds or Risks Losing Building to Government Seizure

Kobrin synagogue photos: courtesy Yuri Dorn

Belarus: Kobrin Synagogue Restoration Project Needs Emergency Funds or Risks Losing Building to Government Seizure
by Samuel D. Gruber (ISJM)

In Bratislava last week I had the pleasure of getting to know Bella Velikovskaia, Executive Director of The Union of Religious Jewish Congregations in the Republic of Belarusand an expert member of the Jewish Heritage Research Group. Bella and her colleagues have one of the hardest jobs in Europe – documenting and protecting Jewish heritage in Belarus. They have made a good start with the documentation –and the results can be seen on the webpage of the Jewish Heritage Research Group, especially in the list of Jewish heritage sites. Protecting and preserving synagogue, former synagogue and cemeteries more difficult. Though some properties have been returned to the Jewish Community, the Jews of Belarus lack the funds to carry out many successful projects to repair, restore and reuse these buildings. Attempts have been made in the past to restore the great synagogue in the western Belarus town of Slonim, and also to find a use for the former Yeshiva building in Volozhin, both of which are important historical, religious and architectural sites. Unfortunately, both projects languish, though although the World Monuments Fund recently awarded a planning grant to all the Volozhin project to be re-addressed and re-formulated. A third pending project is the adaptive restoration of the the former synagogue in Kobrin. This project may have a better chance of succeeding – if funds can be found – since the building could serve again as a synagogue for the many Jewish communities in that part of Belarus who presently have no religious center.

To my great regret, I have never been to Belarus During the many years I was associated with the United States Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad as Research Director, I was discouraged from engaging in projects in Belarus because of the frosty relations between the US Government and government of Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko. In this, and in many other ways, the Belarus Jewish community has suffered from being out-of-touch with many foreign institutions, and ineligible for certain kinds of foreign assistance. Besides humanitarian aid from the JDC and some other Jewish charities, there has been little formal support from aboard for Jewish heritage projects. Mostly there have been donations from individuals which are usually directed as specific cemetery care projects.

The situation at Kobrin is now urgent, because the government which returned the large 19th-century masonry synagogue to the Jewish community in 2004 threatens to take it back unless restoration work begins. This is a situation that is also becoming common in Poland. After holding Jewish properties for a half century or more and letting them deteriorate into near-ruins, they are returned to communities - but without any financial assistance to restore them. Communities must not only quickly find a use for the building, but also the funds to make them work. Sometimes years pass and nothing happens. Sometimes governments demand quick action. I frequently say the situation is similar to being asked to make soup. On is given the carrots and potatoes, but not pot to cook them in, and sometimes not even a fire. Consequently communities are overburdened. In Belarus, there is a real plan for Kobrin. But there is not enough money. And the government threatens to take the building back if nothing happens soon.

Synagogue of Kobrin

According to Yuri Dorn, Coordinator of Jewish Heritage Research Group in Belarus, the 1868 synagogue building was given to the Jewish community of Kobrin and the Union of Religious Jewish Congregations in the Republic of Belarus in 2004. It had been used for grain storage after the Second World War, and later beer and nonalcoholic beverage production plant in the building prior to 1996. Then the building was given to the local history museum, but the museum lacked funds to start restoration. The synagogue building was left unguarded, and fell into further disrepair.
The restoration project was formally announced last September, and since 2004, much has been done to develop a project for the rebuilding and move it forward.

- all legal documents for property rights have been executed
- all legal documents for the right to rent the adjacent territory without any compensation have been executed
- new technical passport for the building has been executed
- a web site related to the restoration of the synagogue building was designed (www.kobrinsynagogue.com)
- $8,500 was given by a private donor to clean the synagogue and the adjacent territory and to remove of the garbage outside the city.
- physical and chemical analysis of plaster and outside wall paint was conducted, the research of the history of the building in historical archives was been made
- the grounds have been partially fenced and a watchman hired.

Still, beginning last year the local authorities began to for the restoration of the building exterior . According to sources, this is because he President of Belarus is going to visit the city of Kobrin in the mid-September of this year. Local authorities want the town to look its best for the President’s visit. They insist on implementing the following work on this building:

- replacing roofing with partial repair of the support system
- painting the building (exterior walls)
- closing window openings with wooden shields
- installing new iron entrance door

The cost of this immediate work amounts to $38,250, money the Jewish community does not have on hand. Estimates for the cost of the total renewal of the building are about a half million dollars (but this depends on the scope of the final project and the world economic situation). Certainly some of this work is needed – the building should be secured against the elements to prevent even worse damage. Some of the work, however, may be premature, since a complete preservation plan and design for reuse has not been completed.


The Union of Religious Jewish Congregations in the Republic of Belarus will continue to negotiate with local authorities to gain tie, and to create a situation where scare funs are spent on the most important parts of the project. Meanwhile they are raising money. In a worst case scenario, if the work is not done, they will lose the synagogue forever.

For more information and to make contributions contact:

Yuri Dorn
Coordinator of Jewish Heritage
Research Group in Belarus
Minsk
13B Daumana St.
tel/375-173-345612
fax/375-173-343360
http://www.jhrgbelarus.org/

Belarus: Press Release about Commemoration Events in Minsk

Belarus: Plans for Commemoration of Annihilation of Minsk Ghetto on 65th Anniversary

Following is a press release sent to me from the Embassy (which?) of Belarus. I have not worked on any projects in Belarus for many years, so am not current with developments about Jewish sites and Holocaust memorials. This report mentions the inauguration of some new commemorative plaques and stones as well as host of other activities. I welcome information, comments, reports and photos from readers about this and other news from Belarus.

Main commemorative events dedicated to the victims of the Minsk Ghetto are to be held in Minsk on the state level

Press-Release

On October 20 – 23, 2008 the main events dedicated to the 65th Anniversary of Minsk Ghetto annihilation will be held on the state level in the capital of Belarus – Minsk – with the participation of citizens of Israel - survivors of ghetto and veterans.

The dates of the events are coordinated by the Belarusian Government with the leaders of the Jewish community of the country. The events include:

– mourning meeting in honour of the 65th Anniversary of Minsk Ghetto annihilation at the memorial “Yama”;
– funeral procession within the territory of the Ghetto in memory of the Holocaust in Belarus;
– public gathering dedicated to the 65th Anniversary of Minsk Ghetto annihilation and policy of genocide on the territory of the Republic of Belarus.
– inauguration of the memorial plate at a place of annihilation of the 5000 prisoners of Ghetto;
– inauguration of the memorial stone at a place in memory of deported and annihilated Jews from Keln;
– book exhibition about Holocaust on the territory of Belarus in the National Library.
– inauguration of the exhibitions dedicated to the Minsk Ghetto;

Starting from October 15 in Minsk (Museum of the Great Patriotic War) the exhibition dedicated to the Minsk Ghetto will take place;

For the October 17 in Minsk-city Palace of young people and children is planned the awards ceremony of the schoolchildren-winners of the contest “Holocaust. History and present”

Israeli survivors of ghetto and veterans will be represented by Association of Immigrants from Belarus; Association of Concentration Camps and Ghetto Survivors; Union of Partisans, Underground Fighters and Ghetto Rebels; Union of Veterans of the Second World War – Fighters Against Nazism; Association of Disabled Veterans and Partisans of Fight Against Nazism.

The planned events are named “main” due to the fact that they conclude the series of steps commemorating the Feat and the Catastrophe. These steps Belarus undertakes during the whole year under the auspices of the Government of Belarus.

The Government of Belarus established the Organizing Committee in charge of holding the commemorative events dedicated to the 65th Anniversary of Minsk Ghetto Annihilation. It unites the representatives of more than 20 state and public bodies.

In Israel commemorating event dedicated to the 65th Anniversary of Minsk Ghetto annihilation was held on June 22, 2008 according to the initiative of the Embassy of Belarus in Israel and Yad Vashem Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority. Among the participants of the event were Minister of Pensioners Affairs, Members of Knesset, natives of Belarus.

In the second largest ghetto on the territory of the former USSR organized by Nazis – in Minsk 65 years ago were killed about 100 000 people.

About 10 000 Jews escaped from Ghetto mainly with the assistance of Belarusians and joined partisans movement.

The Nazis did not succeed in sowing the seeds of anti-Semitism on the occupied territory of Belarus. There are 680 Belarusian Righteous Among the Nations now. If only the thorough search of the citizens of my country who saved the lives of their neighbors-Jews, had continued in 1967 not in 1990 (the period of absence of the diplomatic relations between USSR and Israel) Belarus would have been the leader in the number of Righteous Among the Nations.

Mutual aid of Belarusians and Jews during the Second World War is an integral part of the unique friendly neighborhood of two peoples which counts six centuries.

During past six centuries Jewish people felt more secure in Belarus in comparison with the countries of the region. There were almost no pogroms (massacres). Belarusians had never initiated pogroms. This position is confirmed by museum of Jewish history and culture, created by Jewish community of Belarus.

The World War II is common sorrow and common ordeal both for Belarusians and for Jewish. It is terrible but even these horrible figures we have in common: during the WW II was killed every third Belarusian and every third Jew.

Press Service
Embassy of Belarus