When we were invited to develop the content concept for the Green Synagogue of Rezekne in May 2015, we knew that almost none of the synagogue’s authentic artefacts had been preserved up to the present day and that there has been no academic research on the history of Jews in Rezekne thus far.
The first few months of concept development resembled detective work, with us trying to examine as many sources as possible, build the storyline and base it on academically accurate references. We started by entrusting Dr. hist. Inese Runce with the task of researching the history of the Jews in Rezekne from the moment individual Jews (followed by an entire community) arrived in the territory of Rezekne until the latter half of the 20th century. Simultaneously, we collected materials from the Cultural History Museum of Latgale, the Jews in Latvia museum in Riga, the archive of the Jewish Congregation in Rezekne, and elsewhere.
The Story
Gradually, we saw the story of Jewish Rezekne take shape: Jewish traditions, history, cultural heritage, their past and present identity and our knowledge of them.
Every story needs a name, especially if it comes in the shape of an exhibition. We came across a matching title of our story at the very beginning of the research when we found a folder entitled Еврейское Резекне (Jewish Rezekne) while browsing the materials of the Cultural History Museum of Latgale. The folder contained descriptions of the most significant Jewish locations in Rezekne: shops, residential buildings, a bank, synagogue, cemetery, memorials, etc. This itinerary was created by two friends over a longer period of time: the former Head of collections at the Cultural History Museum of Latgale, Silvija Ribakova, and the former chair of the Jewish Congregation in Rezekne, Rasela Kukla. That would be the name of our exhibition! Furthermore, this itinerary became one of the exhibition’s motifs that we perfected, refined and expanded in collaboration with both authors and historian Kaspars Strods, not only for the purposes of the exhibition, but also of a mobile application of the same name.
Objects
Each exhibition contains important objects that serve as a proof of the period. Although we decided early on in the project that this will be a virtual exhibition, each of the unique artefacts and their stories hold great importance.
When we started developing the content concept for the synagogue, the head of the Jewish Congregation in Rezekne told us that the only authentic artefact still located in the synagogue is a fragment of the Torah in a metallic case. Experts, however, found that it is a fragment of the Book of Esther, or the Scroll, which by no means reduced its unique value. Quite the contrary, the Book of Esther, alongside the Torah, has always been one of the most popular Old Testament texts in the Jewish religious community. It is traditionally read in synagogues during Purim, a Jewish holiday that commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from perishing during the Persian Empire in the 5th century BC. For Orthodox Jews, it is an important commandment to listen to readings from the Book of Esther.
Thus, taking into account that this late 19thcentury/early 20thcentury hand-written parchment scroll is the only surviving ritual artefact of the Jewish community in Rezekne, it was displayed in the synagogue’s prayer room in a custom-made Torah cabinet. The story of how this artefact was found is no less remarkable, like the revival story of the synagogue itself – it was discovered in the synagogue’s attic in the 1990s.
Speaking of exhibition artefacts, we have to mention a completely unexpected turn in the development of the project. The Cultural History Museum of Latgale received a deposit of pre-war artefacts that had belonged to the Jews of Rezekne – a tea set made at the Kuznetsov Porcelain Factory and silver tableware with Art Nouveau motifs. We immediately decided to integrate these into our exhibition, creating the Object as a proof section.
Jewish Tradition through Personal Stories
We knew at the very beginning that the exhibition at the synagogue will not only tell the historical but also the traditional side of the Jewish story. How could we make tradition interesting both for experts and guests? In the creation of the section on Jewish tradition, we engaged Jewish community representatives belonging to three different generations: the chair of the Jewish Congregation in Rezekne, Levs Suhobokovs, its former chair, Rasela Kukla, and the director of the Jews in Latvia museum in Riga, Ilya Lenskis. Each of them told the story of the Jewish tradition from their own point of view and experience. In the exhibition these testimonies are projected onto the wall of the synagogue’s prayer room.
The Result
Historically, this building served as a synagogue. Today, it has been transformed into an exhibition of the history and tradition of the Jews in Rezekne, a centre for wooden architecture heritage restoration and a gathering place for the Jewish community of Rezekne.
Respecting its original function, we explore the Jewish tradition in the prayer room on the ground floor: what is the Torah? What are the Jewish religious holidays and how has this tradition survived in Rezekne?
In the former study room adjacent to the prayer room, we explore the restoration of the synagogue as an architectural monument of national significance.
On the first floor, which historically served as the women’s prayer room, we piece together in a virtual exhibition the mosaic of the history of the Jews in Rezekne by following it through five centuries. In the artefact showcase we discover a decisive episode in the history of an entire nation through personal stories and fragile testimonies of the past, where objects serve as witnesses of one of the darkest pages in our collective history. Meanwhile, with the help of the Jewish Rezekne map we show how much or little of the Jewish heritage still remains in the city and encourage guests to follow the Jewish Rezekne itinerary out in the city environment by using the mobile application.
This story is definitely not over yet. The city of Rezekne and specially it’s Jewish community is only at the beginning of research, rediscovering traditions, stories and, perhaps, reviving Jewish Rezekne.
In turn, for the think tank Creative Museum this project meant tapping into the field of historical memory research. The choice of a subject and the outcome itself attests to our conviction of dialogical memory culture as a way forward in contemporary society.
Find more about collection of essays Jewish Rezekne, available now at Etsy
Photo: Ansis Starks