| Kaunas Synagogue | |
|---|---|
Synagogue façade
| |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Orthodox Judaism |
| Status | Active |
| Location | |
| Location | Centras eldership, Kaunas, Lithuania |
| Geographic coordinates | 54°53′55″N 23°54′12″E / 54.89861°N 23.90333°E / 54.89861; 23.90333 |
| Architecture | |
| Architect(s) | Justyn Golinewicz |
| Type | Synagogue |
| Style | Baroque Revival |
| Groundbreaking | 1871 |
| Completed | 1872 |
Kaunas Synagogue (Lithuanian: Kauno choralinė sinagoga) is one of two operating choral synagogues in Lithuania.[1] It is located in Centras eldership, Kaunas. The Neo-Baroque synagogue was built in 1872.[1] In 1902, before the Holocaust in Lithuania, it was one of over 25 synagogues and Jewish prayer houses in the city.[2] 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.[3][4] 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.[5]
54°53′55″N 23°54′12″E / 54.89861°N 23.90333°E / 54.89861; 23.90333
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