Press releases

GRODNO, 13 May (BelTA) – A museum of Jewish culture will be set up in the 17th-century synagogue in Slonim, BelTA learned from the ideology, culture and youth affairs department of the Slonim District Executive Committee.

The project to reconstruct the synagogue will be financed by the Slonim District Executive Committee and Slonim Jews association in Israel.

Preliminary agreement on joint implementation of the project was reached in August last year when representatives of the Slonim Jews association in Israel visited the district. The specific steps and the terms of participation were discussed during a visit of Chairman of the Slonim District Executive Committee Oleg Targonsky to Israel in early May, the department informed.

The synagogue sits in the heart of Slonim. It was built in the mid-17th century. The building has been conserved. Original interior elements have survived inside the building. Previously Jews accounted for over 80% of the Slonim population. Today the homeland of parents, grandparents and great-grandparents attracts their descendants from other countries. The museum of Jewish culture could become one of the sites of pilgrimage tourism, which has been gaining momentum lately, and help attract additional visitors to the town,” the department noted.

There are plans to include the project to reconstruct the synagogue into one of the cross-border cooperation programs.

Soon a tender will be held to choose an organization that will prepare design and estimate documentation. The planning work is to be completed within a year. Then the scope of works and the project schedule will be outlined.