Archeologist to present Great Synagogue of Vilnius’ findings

Great Synagogue of Vilnius fragments
DELFI / Šarūnas Mažeika

Jon Seligman has been leading the research for several years now and will give a lecture at Vilnius Jewish Public Library on Wednesday.

The Great Synagogue of Vilnius used to be one of the most important Jewish centers from the late XVI century until WWII.

The Great Synagogue of Vilnius was built in 1633 on the foundations of an older 16th-century synagogue. But the remains of the synagogue and other ritual and communal buildings were damaged considerably during WWII and were flattened in 1955–1957. A kindergarten was built on top of it in 1964.

Lithuania has been holding discussions for several years now on how to commemorate the synagogue, with proposals ranging from exhibiting uncovered fragments under a glass to rebuilding the synagogue and opening a museum.

There’s only one synagogue in Vilnius now.

Over 200,000 Jews lived in Lithuania before WWII but over 90 percent of them were killed during Lithuania’s occupation.

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