Beth Israel, Brașov: Baumhorn’s Synagogue on Poarta Șchei

On Strada Poarta Șchei, set back behind an ordinary street front, stands the only working synagogue in Brașov. Built in 1899–1901 to plans by Lipót Baumhorn, it was damaged by the Legionnaires in November 1940, restored after the war and again for its centenary, and since October 2014 it has been called “Beth Israel”.

A young community in a Saxon town

For centuries Brașov, the Saxons’ Kronstadt and the Hungarians’ Brassó, was closed to Jewish settlement. Jewish merchants passed through as early as the 15th century, but according to the Encyclopaedia Judaica only in 1826 were several families allowed to settle permanently, and in 1828 they won the right to form a community. Growth was slow: 103 people in 1865 and 1,198 in 1900. From the late 19th century the town had two communities, Neolog and Orthodox. The synagogue on Poarta Șchei belonged to the Neolog community, the larger of the two.

The great synagogue architect

The plans were drawn by Lipót (Leopold) Baumhorn (1860–1932), the Hungarian architect whom the International Survey of Jewish Monuments calls “the most prolific synagogue architect in pre-WW2 Europe.” His other works include the great synagogues of Szeged and Subotica and the synagogue in the Fabric district of Timișoara. Construction in Brașov ran from 1898 or 1899 to 1901. According to ANU – Museum of the Jewish People, it cost 1.2 million crowns.

The community’s website describes the building as a three-nave basilica in the Moorish style, with Gothic and Romanesque elements and an area of 657 m². Other sources call it Neo-Gothic with Moorish elements. As with many synagogues in Transylvanian towns, it stands at the back of a courtyard rather than on the street front. It was inaugurated on 20 August 1901 by Rabbi Ludovic Pap-Rosenberg.

November 1940 and the war years

In September 1940 the “National Legionary State” of Antonescu and the Iron Guard came to power in Romania. In November 1940 Legionnaires broke into the synagogue and wrecked its furnishings. ANU and other sources say the organ and the stained-glass windows were smashed. Until 1944 the building served as a gymnasium; one source describes it as a warehouse during this period.

Unlike the Jews of Hungarian-ruled Northern Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia, the Jews of Brașov were not deported. Still, according to the Encyclopaedia Judaica, the Antonescu regime confiscated the community’s buildings and much Jewish property, and the men were drafted into labour battalions. The community’s website adds that Jewish children were expelled from the schools. In 1941 the Orthodox synagogue on Strada Castelului was also ransacked.

After the war: restoration, union and emigration

The synagogue was restored after 1944. According to ANU, members of the congregation paid for the work and carried it out themselves under community leader Aladar Zitrom, and a kosher kitchen and an old-age home were added in the courtyard. In 1949, when the communist regime reorganised the Jewish communities, the two Brașov communities merged into one with an Orthodox section, and the Neolog synagogue became the synagogue of all the town’s Jews.

During the communist decades the community emptied in successive waves of aliyah and emigration: in 1951, 1956 and 1964, and through the 1970s and 1980s. In 1956 the city had 1,759 Jews. The earthquake of March 1977 damaged the building, and according to ANU the Federation of Jewish Communities in Romania helped restore it.

A centenary and “Beth Israel”

For its centenary the synagogue was renovated and rededicated in September 2001. In 2004 it was added to the list of historic monuments of Brașov County as “Sinagoga neologă”, code BV-II-m-B-11515. According to Interreg Danube, it took the name “Beth Israel” in October 2014.

Today the synagogue is used for worship, and its courtyard houses the community offices, a kosher restaurant, a medical office and a home-care service for the elderly. The 2011 census counted 281 Jews in Brașov, most of them older people. The community has been led for more than 27 years by engineer Tiberiu Roth, and its website names Rabbi Zvika Kfir as the community’s rabbi.

What to see

• The basilica-like building at the back of the courtyard, with its arched windows and Moorish-style decoration.
• The three-nave prayer hall, with the women’s galleries above the side aisles.
• The courtyard, again the centre of community life, with the offices, the kosher restaurant and the services for the elderly.

Visiting

The synagogue is in the old town, a few minutes’ walk from Piața Sfatului and the Black Church, and you enter through the courtyard. The community’s headquarters is listed at Strada Poarta Șchei 27; some sources give number 29. Community office: +40 757 570 803. Online guides say the synagogue opens to visitors on weekdays and charges an entrance fee. The community’s website does not publish current hours or prices, so arrange your visit with the community office in advance. On Shabbat and festivals it is a working synagogue.