In 2004, the Green Synagogue of Rēzekne – the oldest wooden synagogue of the Baltics and one of the few non-transformed synagogues of Europe – was included in the list of the 100 most endangered Latvian cultural monuments.
By attracting resources of the European Economic Area Financial Mechanism “Conservation and Revitalisation of Cultural and Natural Heritage”, Rēzekne City Council coordinated renovation works of the synagogue.
Since the January 2016 the former house of prayer is operating as the city’s wooden architecture restoration centre with an exhibition on Jewish cultural heritage in Rēzekne.
An exhibition reflects the project team’s attempt to collect as much written, tangible and, most importantly, oral materials as possible in a short period of time on the history, traditions and social life of the Jewish community that has had a significant impact on the city of Rēzekne.
Synagogue’s restoration project has been followed by serious academic research and an in-depth study of Latvian and foreign archives, thus forming an extensive historical overview.
In the presence of members of the Rēzekne Jewish community, Ambassador of the State of Israel in Latvia, researchers and a broad audience, the conference Jewish Rēzekne took place in Rēzekne on 18 March 2016.
Next step within project is publication of volume “Jewish Rēzekne”.When developing the structure of the volume of articles, it was attempted to cover all of the thematic blocks regarding the history of Jews in Rēzekne, as well as Latgale, that have yet been researched and are poorly known: from the arrival of the community in the territory of Latgale and the description of the situation (places of settlement, occupation and daily life, by marking the traditions of Jewish people in Latgale and Rēzekne) up to the most tragic historical events of the 20th century, description of the modern-day situation, as well as the aspects of research of social memory.
Project objectives:
- Creation of an extensive overview of the history of Latgale with an adequate reflection of the contributions made by the Jewish community;
- Making the multinational and multicultural history of Rēzekne topical within the tolerant modern-day society;
- Strengthened international diplomatic ties with the State of Israel and the Jewish diaspora in the world;
- To raise awareness of Rēzekne and Latgale Jewish heritage within the growing hospitality industry in the region along with the Mark Rothko Art Centre in Daugavpils and Ludza wooden synagogue.
Supported by Friedrich Ebert Foundation, State Culture Capital Foundation and Rēzekne City Council
Research project coordinator: Think Tank Creative Museum