Kaunas Synagogue

Kaunas Synagogue
Choral Ohel Yaakov Synagogue
Kaunas Synagogue; Choral Ohel Yaakov Synagogue
Lithuanian: Kauno choralinė sinagoga
	The synagogue façade in 2019
Religion
Affiliation	Orthodox Judaism
Rite	Nusach Ashkenaz
Ecclesiastical or organisational status	Synagogue
Status	Active
Location
Location	13 East Ožeškienės Street, Centras eldership, Kaunas, Kaunas County
Country	Lithuania
	Location of the synagogue in Lithuania
Geographic coordinates	54°53′55″N 23°54′12″E / 54.89861°N 23.90333°E
Architecture
Architect(s)	Justyn Golinewicz; (Iustin N. Golinevich)
Type	Synagogue architecture
Style	Baroque Revival; Renaissance Revival; Moorish Revival;
Funded by	Lewin Boruch Minkowski
General contractor	Edmund von Mikwitz
Groundbreaking	1871
Completed	1872
Materials	Brick

The Kaunas Synagogue, also known as the Choral Ohel Yaakov Synagogue (Lithuanian: Kauno choralinė sinagoga), is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 13 East Ožeškienės Street,, in Centras eldership, Kaunas, in the Kaunas County of Lithuania.

Designed by Justyn Golinewicz and Edmund von Mikwitz in an eclectic mix of the Baroque Revival, Renaissance Revival, and Moorish Revival styles, the building was completed in 1872^[1] and is one of two operating choral synagogues in Lithuania.^[3]

History

In 1902, before the Holocaust in Lithuania, it was one of over 25 synagogues and Jewish prayer houses in the city.^[4] The radically designed synagogue claims to have one of the most beautiful arks in the entire Jewish world.^{[citation needed]}

The plot for the new synagogue was bestowed to the Kovno Jewish community by the merchant Lewin Boruch Minkowski, the father of Oskar Minkowski and Hermann Minkowski; until 1873 he also subsidized the major part of its construction.^[2]^[5] A memorial to the estimated 50,000 Lithuanian Jewish children killed during the Holocaust can be found at the rear of the building, complete with 37 stone tablets showing in which towns and cities they lost their lives and just how many of them died in each one.

On 20 April 2011, the anniversary of Hitler's birthday, a sign saying "Jews out" and "Hitler was right" ("Juden raus" "Hitleris buvo teisus") were hung in front of the synagogue.^[6]

Gallery

Synagogue entrance
Structure on the synagogue roof
General view
Holocaust memorial in front of the synagogue
Synagogue interior
Synagogue interior
Synagogue interior
Synagogue interior
Synagogue interior
Synagogue interior
Plaques with those Jewish soldiers fallen in World War I and Holocaust victims from Kaunas