Baltic Visitor

The International Herald Tribune reports today on Tallinn’s new synagogue, the first to be built in the city since the Second World War – the previous one was destroyed during Soviet bombing in 1944. Prior to the war there had been around 4500 Jews living in Tallinn. Most fled the country to escape the Nazi regime, but 1000 were sent to concentration camps and it is estimated that only around a dozen of those survived. There are about 3000 Jews living in Estonia today, mainly in Tallinn. The Estonian Institute has a short factsheet on the country’s Jewish history.

In recent years the Jewish community had adapted a small building for their use, but facilities were limited. The new synagogue is described as ‘ultramodern’ (there are photographs on the Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS website), will seat 180 people, and cost €1.5 million to build.

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