Elaborate synagogue in Lithuania destroyed during Holocaust. Now it’s being uncovered
In Lithuania’s capital city of Vilnius, the remains of a once-great synagogue sat crumbled under a Soviet-era school.
Now, decades after the center for Jewish life in the country was looted, burned and demolished, archaeologists are working to put the pieces back together.
The Great Synagogue of Vilnius was built in the 17th century in a Renaissance-Baroque style, and was the oldest Jewish building in the country, according to a July 25 news release from the Israel Antiquities Authority.
It was the center of a massive complex, officials said, surrounded by mikvahs, a type of religious cleansing bath, and community institutions as the “beating heart” of Judaism in Lithuania.
Then, World War II began.
The Nazis occupied Vilnius in June 1941, Smithsonian Magazine reported, and the Jews of the city were forced into ghettos and killed.
During the occupation, the Nazis looted and burned the Great Synagogue, officials said in the release, leaving ruins when the Soviets later occupied the country.
Between 1956 and 1957, Soviet forces leveled what remained of the once-looming synagogue and eventually built a school in its place, according to officials and Smithsonian Magazine.
For the past five years, archaeologists from the Antiquities Authority, the Society of Lithuanian Archaeology, the Goodwill Foundation and the Jewish community of Lithuania have been working to recover what remains of the synagogue.
The floor of the synagogue has now been uncovered for the first time, officials said, revealing decorations of red, black and white flowers.
A section of wall decorated in blue and red was also discovered, as well as a giant pillar that once held the building up, according to the release.
In one area, archaeologists found large water reservoirs that would have been used to feed kosher water to the various purification fountains found around the complex, according to the release.
The remains were first discovered in 2015 when ground-penetrating radar identified parts of the complex buried under the school, officials said.
At one point the Great Synagogue included a large center for Torah study, midrash houses, the community council building, a home for a rabbi, kosher meat stall and a famous “Strashun” library, according to the release.
Vilnius is in southeastern Lithuania near the border with Belarus.
This story was originally published July 26, 2024 at 2:38 PM with the headline "Elaborate synagogue in Lithuania destroyed during Holocaust. Now it’s being uncovered."
