Overview

Lost Synagogues of Europe chronicles and recreates in vivid color paintings the life stories of nearly 80 majestic-and destroyed-European synagogues, each one a testament to the approximately 17,000 synagogues decimated during the Third Reich and early takeover of the Communist regimes. After World War II only about 3,300 buildings remained standing, and just more than 700 are still in use as synagogues. This exquisite and significant work of historical preservation collects, organizes, and documents their stories. In four chapters organized by inauguration dates (1600s, 1700s, 1800s, and 1900s), author and artist Andrea Strongwater shines light on 77 synagogues built from the early 1600s to 1930 and spanning 16 European countries where destruction was rampant: Austria (6 synagogues), Belarus (3), Croatia (2), the Czech Republic (5), Estonia (1), France (2), Germany (26), Italy (1), Latvia (2), Lithuania (5), Luxembourg State (1), the Netherlands (1), Poland (15), Russia (1), Slovakia (2), and Ukraine (4). Strongwater lovingly illustrates their exteriors and interiors and tells stories of their history, Jewish community, and architectural significance. These synagogues were considered important enough to have been documented in their time, and so here they do double duty: reminding us of the many thousands of other synagogues that were obliterated without having left any historical record. A foreword by Jewish Theological Seminary Chancellor Emeritus Ismar Schorsch examines the evolution of the synagogue “from a sacred place to a sacred book.” A map of the 2024 political landscape of Europe (with Pale of Settlement and Russian Poland, mid-1800s) helps readers locate each city, town, and country. A cross-reference guide of synagogue locations by country enables readers to find synagogues in the cities and towns of their ancestors. In all, Lost Synagogues of Europe helps to revive a thriving European Jewish culture and heritage that needs to be remembered today.  

Full Product Details

Author:   Andrea Strongwater ,  Ismar Schorsch
Publisher:   Jewish Publication Society
Imprint:   Jewish Publication Society
ISBN:  

9780827615694

ISBN 10:   0827615698
Pages:   280
Publication Date:   01 November 2025
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Temporarily unavailable  
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Table of Contents

Foreword: From a Sacred Place to a Sacred Book by Ismar Schorsch Acknowledgments Introduction: Where Jews Once Gathered Guide: Synagogue Locations by Country 1. 1600s Livorno: 1603, exterior and interior Vilnius: Great Synagogue, 1633, exterior and interior Zabłudów: between 1635 and 1646, exterior Liuboml: mid-1600s–early 1700s, exterior 2. 1700s Gąbin: 1710 (rebuilt in the late 1800s), exterior Berlin: Old Synagogue, 1714, exterior and interior Voŭpa: first half of 1700s, exterior Przedbórz: between 1754 and 1760, exterior and interior Niasviž: Great Synagogue, 1700s, exterior Varniai: Wooden Synagogue, late 1700s, exterior 3. 1800s Seesen: 1810, exterior Homieĺ: Great Synagogue, 1833, exterior Bad Buchau: 1839, exterior and interior Kassel: 1839, exterior and interior Dresden: Semper Synagogue, 1840, exterior and interior Belz: Great Synagogue, 1843, exterior Hamburg: Temple, 1844, exterior and interior Lviv: Temple, 1845, exterior Varniai: Masonry Synagogue, mid-1800s, exterior Vienna: Leopoldstädter Temple, 1858, exterior and interior Kretinga: 1860 (restored after an 1889 fire), exterior Gliwice: New Synagogue, 1861, exterior Telšiai: Great Beit Midrash, 1861, exterior Aachen: 1862, exterior Bochum: 1863 (rebuilt in 1896), exterior Épinal: 1863, exterior Jelgava: 1864, exterior Bytom: 1869, exterior Hannover: New Synagogue, 1870, exterior and interior Riga: Great Choral Synagogue, 1871, exterior Wrocław: New Synagogue, 1872, exterior Vienna: Turner Temple, 1872, exterior Nuremberg: Synagogue at Hans-Sachs-Platz, 1874, exterior Heilbronn: 1877, exterior and interior Karlovy Vary: 1877, exterior and interior Warsaw: Great Synagogue, 1878, exterior and interior Bruchsal: 1881, exterior and interior Teplice: 1882, exterior and interior Tübingen: 1882, exterior and interior Bydgoszcz: 1884, exterior Landau in der Pfalz: 1884, exterior and interior Mariánské Lázně: 1884, exterior Kłodzko, 1885, exterior Gdańsk: Great Synagogue, 1887, exterior and interior Łódź: Great Synagogue, 1887, exterior and interior České Budějovice: 1888, exterior Rawicz: 1889, exterior Horokhiv: Great Synagogue, 1880s, exterior Graz: 1892, exterior Pforzheim: 1892, exterior Vienna: Polish Shul, 1892, exterior and interior Vukovar: 1889, exterior Bratislava: Neolog Synagogue, 1893, exterior Luxembourg: Great Synagogue, 1894, exterior Kaliningrad: New Synagogue, 1896, exterior Slavonski Brod: 1896, exterior Olomouc: 1897, exterior and interior Strasbourg: Synagogue du Quai Kléber, 1898, exterior Baden Baden: 1899, exterior Chemnitz: 1899, exterior Kežmarok: second half of 1800s, exterior 4. 1900s Dortmund: 1900, exterior Katowice: Great Synagogue, 1900, exterior and interior Bad Kissingen: New Synagogue, 1902, exterior Vienna: Neudeggergasse Synagogue, 1903, exterior and interior Tartu: 1903, exterior and interior Bielefeld: 1905, exterior Jasło: 1905, exterior Darmstadt: Orthodox Synagogue, 1906, exterior and interior Frankfurt: Synagogue at Friedberger Anlage, 1907, exterior and interior Tarnów: Jubilee Synagogue, 1908, exterior and interior Mainz: Main Synagogue, 1912, exterior and interior Białystok: Great Synagogue, 1913, exterior and interior Essen: 1913, exterior and interior Amsterdam: Synagogue at Linnaeusstraat, 1928, exterior and interior Vienna: Hietzinger Synagogue, 1928, exterior Plauen: 1930, exterior and interior Notes Bibliography

Reviews

“Lost Synagogues of Europe is a remarkable contribution to a variety of disciplines. It offers a virtual tour across European Jewish communities, with equal attention paid to art, architecture, the Gentile authorities’ stance toward its Jews, and the changing historical context, from Roman times till the first decade of the new millennium. Andrea Strongwater tells a painful story of Jewish communal focal points targeted for destruction primarily by Nazi Germany, but also by its Soviet ideological rivals. It leaves us hopeful that as we show a new generation the beauty of what was lost, the Nazi effort to make Europe Judenrein can somehow, to some extent, be undone.”—Shay Pilnik, director of the Emil A. and Jenny Fish Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Yeshiva University “Andrea Strongwater’s paintings of European synagogues destroyed in the Holocaust allow us to connect emotionally with them—and, in that sense, bring them back to life for us. Her concomitant history of these synagogues broadens our understanding of these homes of Jewish living and thereby serves as new, important testimony to Jewish life lost in the flames of the Shoah.”—Vladimir Levin, director of the Center for Jewish Art at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem “This is a must-read book. Andrea Strongwater’s remarkable paintings and meticulously researched histories honor and help bring back to life lost Jewish communities in Europe, especially during World War II. Her dedication, evident in every detail, has earned her well-deserved accolades. I highly recommend Lost Synagogues of Europe for everyone interested in Jewish history and preserving Jewish memory.”—Rabbi Justin Schwartz, Jewish educator at Temple Beth Abraham, in Tarrytown, New York

“Lost Synagogues of Europe is a remarkable contribution to a variety of disciplines. It offers a virtual tour across European Jewish communities, with equal attention paid to art, architecture, the Gentile authorities’ stance toward its Jews, and the changing historical context, from Roman times till the first decade of the new millennium. Andrea Strongwater tells a painful story of Jewish communal focal points targeted for destruction primarily by Nazi Germany, but also by its Soviet ideological rivals. It leaves us hopeful that as we show a new generation the beauty of what was lost, the Nazi effort to make Europe Judenrein can somehow, to some extent, be undone.”-Shay Pilnik, director of the Emil A. and Jenny Fish Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Yeshiva University “Andrea Strongwater’s paintings of European synagogues destroyed in the Holocaust allow us to connect emotionally with them-and, in that sense, bring them back to life for us. Her concomitant history of these synagogues broadens our understanding of these homes of Jewish living and thereby serves as new, important testimony to Jewish life lost in the flames of the Shoah.”-Vladimir Levin, director of the Center for Jewish Art at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem “This is a must-read book. Andrea Strongwater’s remarkable paintings and meticulously researched histories honor and help bring back to life lost Jewish communities in Europe, especially during World War II. Her dedication, evident in every detail, has earned her well-deserved accolades. I highly recommend Lost Synagogues of Europe for everyone interested in Jewish history and preserving Jewish memory.”-Rabbi Justin Schwartz, Jewish educator at Temple Beth Abraham, in Tarrytown, New York

""A worthy tribute to an important piece of Jewish history.""—Publishers Weekly “Lost Synagogues of Europe is a remarkable contribution to a variety of disciplines. It offers a virtual tour across European Jewish communities, with equal attention paid to art, architecture, the Gentile authorities’ stance toward its Jews, and the changing historical context, from Roman times till the first decade of the new millennium. Andrea Strongwater tells a painful story of Jewish communal focal points targeted for destruction primarily by Nazi Germany, but also by its Soviet ideological rivals. It leaves us hopeful that as we show a new generation the beauty of what was lost, the Nazi effort to make Europe Judenrein can somehow, to some extent, be undone.”—Shay Pilnik, director of the Emil A. and Jenny Fish Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Yeshiva University “Andrea Strongwater’s paintings of European synagogues destroyed in the Holocaust allow us to connect emotionally with them—and, in that sense, bring them back to life for us. Her concomitant history of these synagogues broadens our understanding of these homes of Jewish living and thereby serves as new, important testimony to Jewish life lost in the flames of the Shoah.”—Vladimir Levin, director of the Center for Jewish Art at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem “This is a must-read book. Andrea Strongwater’s remarkable paintings and meticulously researched histories honor and help bring back to life lost Jewish communities in Europe, especially during World War II. Her dedication, evident in every detail, has earned her well-deserved accolades. I highly recommend Lost Synagogues of Europe for everyone interested in Jewish history and preserving Jewish memory.”—Rabbi Justin Schwartz, Jewish educator at Temple Beth Abraham in Tarrytown, New York

Author Information

Andrea Strongwater is an author and artist whose artwork has been shown worldwide, including in the collections of the University Medical Center of Princeton, the Herbert F. Johnson Museum in Ithaca, New York, the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, Or Hadash Synagogue in Atlanta, and the Georges Cziffra Foundation in Senlis, France. Some of her paintings have been sold, and their images have also been sold as prints, postcards, and notecards at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC, the Shoah Memorial in Paris, and to private collectors. The forerunner to this present volume is her award-winning children’s book Where We Once Gathered: Lost Synagogues of Europe. Ismar Schorsch is chancellor emeritus of and Rabbi Herman Abramovitz Professor of Jewish History at the Jewish Theological Seminary. He is the author of several books, including Canon Without Closure: Torah Commentaries and Leopold Zunz: Creativity in Adversity.  

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