Mazel tov!
Just in time for Rosh Hashana, a ceremony in Debrecen, Hungary on Sunday celebrated the re-opening of the city’s 104-year-old Kápolnás street synagogue, after a fullscale renovation financed as part of a more than €1.41 million grant from the European Union’s European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
Click here for an MTI slide show of the restored synagogue and inauguration event
As we reported in November 2013, the project involved the renovation of two historic synagogues — the Kapolnas street synagogue in Debrecen and the Zion synagogue across the border in Oradea (Nagyvarad in Hungarian), Romania — and their promotion as part of religious tourism itineraries and cultural and educational programs.
At the inauguration Sunday the president of the Debrecen Jewish community, Tamás Horovitz called the renovation a milestone in the life of the Jewish community. He recalled when the 100th anniversary of the synagogue was celebrated in 2010, the building was the scene of “leaking roofs, crumbling plaster, damaged façade.”
2 comments on “Inauguration of newly restored synagogue in Debrecen, Hungary”
I am trying to find members of my family who lived in Debrecen in the mid-late 1800’s. The family name is Kraft. My grandfather, Samuel, and his brother, Joseph, left in the 1890’s to go to England and France. Their father was Leopold. Later the area was re-zoned and became Tasnad, Romania. I believe that 10 members of the family (at least) died in the Holocaust.
Thank you.
On the outside wall of the synagogue are two plaques listing Jewish soldiers who died in WW1 (1914 – 1918). Perhaps there are some family names amongst them..