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Kitaevskaya Synagogue, Troitskoye Suburb, Minsk

9a Maksima Bogdanovicha St., Minsk, Belarus

Kitaevskaya Synagogue, also known as the Hasidic Synagogue of Koidanovo, is a building that was constructed and formerly operated as a Hasidic synagogue, located in the Trinity Suburb in Minsk.
Belarus: The Lost Jewish World
World: Synagogues - Spiritual Centers of the Jewish World
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Jermaine

The only synagogue building that has survived from the distant pre-revolutionary times without serious structural changes is the synagogue located in the Troitskoye suburb (the synagogue called Kitaevskaya, Minsk, 9 Bogdanovich Street). It is a one-story rectangular brick building on a high plinth, covered with a gable roof. The facade walls are articulated with pilasters and pierced by tall narrow lancet windows. The end facades are topped with triangular pediments, in the tympana of which are shallow semicircular niches with decorative columns.

The building was erected in 1874; it was built to be attended by Jews who were Koidanov Hasidim. The Hasidim were called "Kitaevtsy" (as well as "skakuny" and "kar[al]intsy") in contrast to the Litvaks, and "Kitaevskaya" synagogues existed in many cities of present-day Belarus. According to a Minsk urban legend, the synagogue’s name comes from the merchant Borukh Kitaevsky, who owned it, and this myth is very widespread. It was the main prayer house for the Jews of the old town. It was very popular for its music during services, primarily known for the songs of Yankel Telekhaner (Tselehaner).

In the neighboring building, which faced Alexandrovskaya Street (now 9 Maksim Bogdanovich Street), there was a Hasidic ("Kitaevskaya") yeshiva.

After the revolution ended, the synagogue building was converted into housing. Later (in the 1980s), there was a large-scale reconstruction of the Troitskoye suburb. The synagogue building was used by the Soviet authorities to open a House of Nature and to house the corresponding exhibition. However, in appearance, it still remained a synagogue structure from the late nineteenth to early twentieth centuries.

When architect Leonid Levin (now deceased) was working on the reconstruction of the Troitskoye suburb, he was asked whether he had any thoughts about commemorating the Jewish history of this quarter. He replied: "I am Jewish myself, but at that time we didn’t even talk about it. The fifth column, everyone was poisoned by anti-Semitism... Thank God, now a new generation is growing. But back then, there was a negative attitude toward an entire people. We knew: Jews lived in the suburb, there was a synagogue. We even approached the rabbi to restore it. But he refused, considering it too active a place for a synagogue: there are cafes and restaurants here. There were many nuances. There were ideas to make a Jewish museum in the synagogue — they didn’t allow it."

Sources:

https://minsk-minsk.by/minsk/putevoditel/dostoprimechatelnosti/items/sinagoga-kitaevskaya/

https://ridero.ru/books/iudaizm_i_sinagogi_v_minske/freeText/

https://wiki2.org/ru/Китаевская_синагога_(Минск)

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Jermaine

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