Synagogue (Žiežmariai)

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Synagogue 2012

The synagogue in the Lithuanian town of Žiežmariai probably dates from the second half of the 19th century. After 2018 it was restored and will serve as a museum.

history

The synagogue was damaged by fire in 1918. In August 1941, the German occupiers imprisoned the Jewish population here and then shot them in a nearby forest. Later it was set up as a barrack for Soviet prisoners of war and Jewish forced laborers with bunks. After 1945 the building was initially a warehouse; a toilet facility was added later. It has been empty since 1980; From 2018 a renovation took place and the building is to be used as a museum.

architecture

The building is 22.57 × 17.19 m in size and has a maximum height of 9.63 m. The main hall (the men's prayer room) faces southeast and measures 13.85 × 15.00 m. In the north-west is a spacious vestibule, which is flanked by two adjoining rooms. In the western corner there is an extension with a staircase to the women's rooms.

The synagogue is covered by a hipped roof.

The main entrance is in the middle of the northwest wall; another door in the northeast leads directly into the main room. This has 18 arched windows. The interior was plastered with painting, of which only remnants can be seen.

The bima stood in the middle of the room and was surrounded by four pillars, two of which supported the ceiling until the renovation. The structure thus resembles the nine-field stone synagogues .

The Torah shrine was on the east wall. Above it was a painted plaster relief with a palm tree in a triangular vase, which are still visible.

The few surviving shapes and colors of the interior design suggest a neoclassical aesthetic, while the palm motif may be inspired by Lithuanian folk motifs.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Synagogues in Lithuania N – Ž: A catalog . Vilnius Academy of Arts Press, Vilnius 2012, p. 407 ff.
  2. ↑ [1] Video about the restoration (near the end of the film). Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  3. ↑ http://cja.huji.ac.il/browser.php?mode=set&id=9301 All information about the architecture. Retrieved July 16, 2020.

Coordinates: 54 ° 48 ′ 13.2 ″  N , 24 ° 26 ′ 40.5 ″  E