Published: 3 October 2023
Last updated: 5 March 2024
A carved door taken from the Chortkiv synagogue is one of several objects stolen from two synagogues nine years ago.
The looting of Ukrainian artworks has been a feature of the Russian war in Ukraine. Earlier cases are also coming to light.
In 2014, thefts occurred in two of Ukraine’s ancient synagogues: the Chortkiv synagogue (18th century) and the Pidhaitsi synagogue (early 17th century).
Both synagogues are under the legal protection of the Ukrainian state. Unknown criminals stole a carved door from the Chortkiv synagogue.
In the same year, two relics disappeared from the ancient Pidhaitsi synagogue: a carved white baroque decoration made of stone from a niche of the prayer room; and a tablet at the entrance to the sanctuary, carved almost four centuries ago with an inscription from Psalm 118: “This is the door of the Lord, only the righteous may enter therein.”
The Ukraine Incognita association, an activist group for Ukrainian culture and natural treasures, recently raised the allegation that these thefts occurred with the co-operation of the Jewish community in Russia.
Their investigation started from an August 14 report by the local Chortkiv City news outlet, noting that the door of the Chortkiv synagogue, sculpted three centuries ago, had reappeared in Moscow in the exhibition of the Museum of the History of the Jews.
Yakov Baranov, head of the Chortkiv Jewish community, said: “The restored doors removed from the old Main Synagogue, stolen in 2014, are now in the Jewish Museum in Poklonnaya Gora, in the Russian capital. Influential people are involved in this scam.”
Pillaged artefacts from Ukrainian Synagogues surface in Moscow museum (Kyiv Post)
Photo: The doors of the Chortkiv synagogue on the original site, left, and in a Moscow museum.
