Uzhhorod Synagogue
For half a millennium, a large Jewish community lived in Uzhhorod, a city in the very west of Ukraine. They built their first synagogue back in 1794, but the building burned down at the beginning of the 20th century, so the city's Jews appealed to the authorities to construct a new one. They were granted a site on the bank of the Uzh River, and a spectacular synagogue in a romantic style mixed with Byzantine and Moorish motifs had been completed there by 1904. The building was impressive both with the technology used – it was the first reinforced concrete structure in Uzhgorod – along with its details: fancy towers on the roof, various metal decorations and ornaments.
However, within a few decades, the synagogue would face dark times. During WWII, German and Hungarian troops used it as a stable and the premises were left in abysmal condition.
After the war, Stalin was in no hurry to return the synagogue to the Jews either. The Soviet authorities decided to turn it into a Philharmonic Hall, and the few Uzhhorod Jews who had survived the war were in no position to oppose it. The curves in the central pediment and the balcony were covered with a wall with a small window. The mosaic dome, which had illuminated the whole building, was hidden under a tin roof. The fancy towers were replaced with simple columns. The tablets with the 10 commandments of Moses that had been on the roof were simply thrown to the ground. In general, both the exterior and the interior of the building were made much more modest.
Nevertheless, the building was preserved, unlike hundreds of other synagogues or churches that failed to survive the Nazis and Bolsheviks. Even now, after major reconstruction, this exquisite ancient building is still impressive to all who see it.
Mykhailo Romanysh
Mykhailo Romanysh (1991) was born in Lviv. Author of the "Nature Symphony" project; music producer and founder of Romanyshyn Production; co-founder of the instrumental band ROCKOKO; head of the public organization "Artistic Innovations", entrepreneur. He studied at the Lviv National Academy of Music named after M. V. Lysenko. The author of symphonic arrangements and a series of audio performances based on sound research of objects and spaces. The author of the music for the film "13 bus" with the support of DerzhKino.