How a Writer From Minsk Sold an Apartment and Bought a Synagogue of 1642 in Slonim

Ilona Karavaeva wants to preserve the historic building.

The crumbling synagogue in Slonim has a new owner: the building was bought at auction by Ilona Karavaeva, a writer from Minsk, who writes under the literary pseudonym Ioanna Reeves. The historic building built in 1642 was sold for almost 30 thousand rubles. Realt.by contacted Joanna and asked why she decided to buy the synagogue and what she intends to do with the building.

- I sold my apartment in Minsk and bought a synagogue in Slonim, - Ioanna surprises us from the very first minutes of the conversation. - I saw the auction announcement and began to think about how we can help preserve this cultural heritage. As an artist, I wanted to do something useful for society. I learned how to take part in the auction, then I made an application, and everything worked out in the end.

It is interesting that in Slonim itself, the new owner of the synagogue has not yet been. She is connected with this city exclusively by her mother's stories, who lived here with her parents after the war.

- My main goal is to preserve the building. We need to get away from the emergency state and try to restore the structure, says Joanna. - The synagogue is in a great location. This is the central street where there is a functioning Transfiguration Cathedral, the restored Bernardine Church. I really want the synagogue to open its doors for citizens and guests of the city one day. I believe that, by joint efforts, we will be able to do this.

Speaking about the synagogue's future, Joanna sees it as a popular tourist attraction rather than an active religious building.

- It is unlikely that it will be a functioning synagogue because there are no Jews left in the city. I think that the building can become a point of attraction for tourists - an architectural monument, which is interesting to look at both from the outside and the inside. Here on the territory, we will probably hold some cultural events, concerts, and we will think about opening a cafe or a souvenir shop in small annexes to the building.

The writer understands that she will not have enough own funds to restore the building - this requires millions of euros. To restore the building, Joanna is going to initiate the creation of a special fund. Under the terms of the auction, the new owner must provide design documentation within 2 years and make a project to reconstruct the building within 5 years. The Minsk woman plans to establish contacts with everyone who is interested in the revival of the Slonim synagogue, including the British Jewish Heritage Foundation.

It should be reminded that the Slonim synagogue was put up for auction for the first time in May last year. Then the building was estimated at 137 thousand rubles. There were no people willing to buy it.

At the same time, the London Fund for Jewish Heritage came up with a proposal to buy out the architectural monument. However, for everything to work out, it takes money and time. Earlier, representatives of this organization included the synagogue in Slonim on the list of the most significant objects of the Jewish world heritage that need help.

The synagogue was put up for auction several more times, but then there were no buyers. The representatives of the Fund also decided that they would wait when the price was cut in half. It was supposed that this would be done by the second auction - however, the cost was reduced by only 10%. The representatives of the Foundation were surprised at this state of affairs.

- The thing is that the organizers of the auction assured the Fund's representatives that the price would be less than twice at the second auction. But it turned out differently. It is clear that the seller has the right, but foreign experts consider this situation from the perspective that the verbal promises are not fulfilled, which is not a very good sign for the Fund. Again, the problem is that the conditions of the auction are the same, and the Fund's specialists say that much more time is needed for the restoration of the building and the development of the project and the preparation of estimates, - said the deputy chairman of the public association Belarusian Voluntary Society for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments Yury Meliashkevich.

This public association is a Belarusian partner of the Jewish Heritage Fund and, together with other Belarusian organizations, is engaged in the preparation of an architectural draft project, as well as consultation at this preliminary stage.

On December 29, the synagogue in Slonim was sold.