The Sejny synagogue is a former synagogue in Sejny

Sejny

Sejny is a town in north-eastern Poland, in Podlaskie Voivodeship, close to the border with Lithuania and Belarus. It is located in the eastern part of the Suwałki Lake Area , on the Marycha river, being a tributary of Czarna Hańcza...

, Poland, also called the White Synagogue in Sejny.

History

The large, Neo-baroque

Neo-baroque

The Baroque Revival or Neo-baroque was an architectural style of the late 19th century. The term is used to describe architecture which displays important aspects of Baroque style, but is not of the Baroque period proper—i.e., the 17th and 18th centuries.Some examples of Neo-baroque architecture:*...

 style building on Pilsudskiego Street was erected in the 1860's, replacing an older building. It was used by the Nazis as a fire station, the interior was gutted and all furnishings were destroyed. It was restored - with a plain, modern interior - in 1987 and now serves as a cultural center, theater and museum.

Called the Borderland Foundation, (Fundacja Pogranicze,) the foundation and its cultural ceenter are dedicated to the cultures of the region, Polish, Lithuanian, Belarusian, Jewish, Ukrainian and Russian. The Foundation was the Polish publisher of Neighbors: The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedwabne, Poland

Neighbors: The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedwabne, Poland

Neighbors: The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedwabne, Poland is a 2001 book by Princeton University historian Jan T. Gross exploring the July 1941 Jedwabne massacre committed against Polish Jews in a village in Nazi-occupied Poland by their long-time neighbors.-Content and controversy:The...

 by Jan T. Gross

Jan T. Gross

Jan Tomasz Gross is a Polish-American historian and sociologist. He is the Norman B. Tomlinson '16 and '48 Professor of War and Society and Professor of History at Princeton University.- Biography :Jan T...

. A Klezmer

Klezmer

Klezmer is a musical tradition of the Ashkenazic Jews of Eastern Europe. Played by professional musicians called klezmorim, the genre originally consisted largely of dance tunes and instrumental display pieces for weddings and other celebrations...

 band is based at the cultural center.

The nineteenth century yeshiva building also survives, and is also used by the Borderland Foundation.

Images

• Nineteenth century postcard of Sejny synagogue and yeshiva: http://www.flickr.com/photos/20821324@N00/2527165312/

External links

• Borderland Foundation: http://pogranicze.sejny.pl/archiwum/english/found/found.htm