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THE SYNAGOGUES OF SURAZH

“The only way out is to use the building of the synagogue.”

This was the principle the Bolsheviks followed, when in the 1920^s they were closing the synagogues of Surazh one after another. In 1917 Surazh had six synagogues. Two of them were closed down in the first years of the Soviet power in 1921. The synagogues had the following names: “Libinson’s synagogue” (or Stone synagogue), “Zadvinskaya synagogue”, “New synagogue” and “Zakasplianskaya synagogue”. All of them were wooden, except for the Stone synagogue.

In general, the buildings of the synagogues were later used for different purposes. In the August of 1921 fifty handicapped people arrived in Surazh from Russia. The local authorities were concerned about where these people would live. The only option was one of the synagogues.

In 1929 the Stone synagogue was turned into a Jewish school. In 1932 Zakasplianskaya synagogue was turned into shoemakers’ workshop. Another synagogue was turned into a barn. Naturally, all of the buildings were soon completely rundown and were later destroyed completely.

Konstantin Karpekin,
Chief research officer,
Vitebsk region State archive.

Jewish settlements in Vitebsk region

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