A synagogue that unfolds like a book: the story of an unusual Jewish memorial ‘Place for Reflection’ in Babyn Yar — from a destroyed world to a new war
It was built from old Ukrainian oak, with a starry sky depicted on the ceiling on September 29, 1941, and the opening was turned into a collective action. How the unusual synagogue appeared in Kyiv, why its construction caused controversy, and what happened to the memorial after the Russian invasion.
Author: Lev Varshavsky
In Babyn Yar, among the trees, near the bronze Menorah, stands a wooden structure eleven meters high. At first glance, it's hard to understand what is in front of you. A vertical structure made of oak, a metal frame, practically no familiar signs of a religious building. But when people start turning a special wheel, the walls come into motion, the roof opens, benches and a prayer space appear.
In front of visitors is a synagogue. A real one, although completely unusual.
It is called a "Place for Reflection." Built in Kyiv in 2021 according to the project of Swiss architect Manuel Herz, specifically for the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center. Jewish prayers are written on the walls, the paintings resemble the interiors of destroyed Ukrainian synagogues, and the flowers on the ceiling repeat the arrangement of stars over Kyiv on the night when the Nazis…
Read more:
nikk.ua/en/a-synagogue-that-un…
