Slonim Synagogue

The synagogue was the main religious building of Slonim's then numerous and influential Jewish community. The building was erected in 1642 and was initially part of the town's fortifications system.

In 1881 the synagogue was heavily damaged in a fire.

During the Second World War, almost the entire Jewish population of Slonim was murdered by the Nazis in the Holocaust. The building was left untouched by the German Luftwaffe during World War II, but has subsequently deteriorated. After the war, the Communist administration used the building as a furniture warehouse.{{cite web |url=https://slonimsynagogue.org/history/ |title=History |work=Slonim Synagogue |date= |access-date= }}{{self-published-inline|date=March 2024}}

In 2001, after the restoration of the independence of Belarus, the building was returned to the Belarusian Jewish community.

The synagogue is standing but in a dilapidated condition. The Saving Heritage Foundation was established to help the with restoration of the synagogue. Under an initiative of the Kaplinsky family, a steering group for the conservation of the synagogue was established through the Foundation for Jewish Heritage to restore the Slonim Synagogue and to make it a “major educational facility, cross-cultural meeting place, memorial, place of worship, and a cultural centre ensuring that the Great Synagogue has a sustainable future”.{{cite web |url=https://slonimsynagogue.org/vision/ |title=Vision |work=Slonim Synagogue |date= |access-date= }}{{self-published-inline|date=March 2024}} The steering group included Britons and Americans with family links to the Jewish community of Slonim and the architect Tszwai So.{{cite web |url=https://slonimsynagogue.org/people/ |title=People |work=Slonim Synagogue |date= |access-date= }}{{self-published-inline|date=March 2024}} In May 2021, the UK-based Foundation decided to cease its involvement, due to challenges with the five-year timeframe for redevelopment, political instability in Belarus, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.{{cite web |url=https://www.foundationforjewishheritage.com/post/great-synagogue-of-slonim-project-update |title=Great Synagogue of Slonim project update |work=News |publisher=Foundation for Jewish Heritage |location=United Kingdom |date=10 May 2021 |access-date=23 March 2024 }}

On 29 December 2020 the synagogue was sold at public auction to Ilona Karavaeva (known as Ilona Ioanna Reeves), a writer and musician, for approximately Belarusian ruble 27,400 (at that time $12,000).{{Cite web |author=Liphsiz, Cnaan |date=2021-03-05 |title=In Eastern Europe, historic synagogues are sold for the price of a used car |url=https://www.jta.org/2021/03/05/global/in-eastern-europe-historic-synagogues-are-sold-for-the-price-of-a-used-car |access-date=2021-04-07 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |language=en-US}} Interviewed in 2021, Reeves, a Christian, stated that she: "... planned to create a tourist site that will include a museum, a cultural center for meetings, lectures, concerts. My agreement clearly states that I am obliged to preserve the historical and cultural value of the building of the Jewish synagogue."{{cite interview |author=Reeves, Ilona |url=https://ioannareeves.art/ioanna-reeves-bought-slonim-synagogue/?lang=en |title=Writer Ioanna Reeves bought a synagogue in Belarusian Slonim |work=Ilona Reeves Art |publisher=Ilona Reeves |interviewer= |date=n.d. |access-date=23 March 2024 }} {{cite interview |author=Иоанна Ривз |url=https://jewish.ru/ru/interviews/articles/195333/ |title=Интервью |interviewer=Алексей Сурин |work=Jewish.RU |publisher= |language=ru |location=Russia |date=19 January 2021 |access-date=23 March 2024 }} However, by late 2023, Ilona Karavaeva , could not raise the funds required for the restoration due to political sanctions and war in Ukraine. Ilona Karavaeva had gifted the ownership of the building to local authorities, who again put the building up for sale. {{cite news |url=https://jewish-heritage-europe.eu/2023/09/12/belarus-slonim-again/ |title=Belarus |website=jewish-heritage-europe.eu}}

Słonim, Školny Dvor. Слонім, Школьны Двор (1916).jpg|Fishmarket in front of the synagogue, 1906

Synagogue in Slonim by Valery Sliunchanka 1.09.1975 Watercolor.JPG|Slonim Synagogue, 1975 painting by Valery Sliunchanka

Słonim, Vialikaja synagoga. Слонім, Вялікая сынагога (1919-39) (2).jpg|Interiors of the synagogue before 1939

Słonim, Vialikaja synagoga. Слонім, Вялікая сынагога (1901-39) (2).jpg|Interiors of the synagogue before 1939

Słonim, Vialikaja synagoga. Слонім, Вялікая сынагога (1901-39).jpg|Interiors of the synagogue before 1939

Słonim, Školny Dvor. Слонім, Школьны Двор (J. Bułhak, 1930).jpg|Slonim Synagogue, 1930 photo by the well-known Belarusian-Polish photographer, Jan Bulhak

File:Slonim Synagogue in 2020.jpg|Slonim Synagogue in 2020

• Anshe Slonim Synagogue in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York
• Slonim (Hasidic dynasty)

{{reflist}}

• https://www.academia.edu/114191909/Author_Ioanna_Reeves_The_Synagogue_of_Slonim_400_Years_of_History
• {{cite web |url=https://www.wmf.org/project/slonim-synagogue |title=Slonim Synagogue |publisher=World Monuments Fund |date=June 2018 }}
• {{cite news |url=https://ioannareeves.art/arhitektura/ |title=Architecture |work=Slonim synagogue |date=2020 |publisher=Ilona Reeves |format=Text and images}}

{{Jewish Belarusian history}}

Category:1648 establishments in Belarus

Category:17th-century synagogues in Europe

Category:Baroque architecture in Belarus

Category:Baroque synagogues

Category:Former synagogues in Belarus

Category:Slonim

Category:Synagogues completed in 1648