Tajik Synagogue Demolition - February-March 2006

NCSJ statement

Embassy of Tajikistan to the USA 

Euro-Asian Jewish Congress

News coverage
FJC	May 19	Jewish Community Takes Steps to Revive Itself
NY Times	Mar. 28	As a Synagogue Comes Down, a Culture Disappears, Too
FJC	Mar. 20	Tajikistan’s Only Synagogue Saved in Nick of Time
Jerusalem Post	Mar. 15	Government suspends demolition
See also:	NCSJ Country Report on Tajikistan

 

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Federation of Jewish Communities - May 19, 2006

Jewish Community of Dushanbe Takes Steps to Revive Itself 

DUSHANBE, Tajikistan – In view of recent problems with the Dushanbe synagogue and after a long process of obtaining a visa, Rabbi Dovid Gurevich, a Chabad Lubavich emissary in Central Asia, has arrived to Dushanbe to discuss the pressing issues with the newly-elected Jewish Community Chairman Valery Davydov and other community leaders.

A three-hour discussion with local leadership resulted in a plan of urgent measures to be taken as soon as possible in order to rekindle Jewish life in Dushanbe.

Everyone agreed that a meeting with city's Chief Architect regarding the renovation of the synagogue which nearly got destroyed by the city authorities was necessary and issues to be discussed at the meeting were outlined. Other points discussed were efforts to enlist help from international donors to help with the reconstruction of the synagogue, arranging for a shochet to travel frequently to Dushanbe to provide kosher meat, plans to recruit a rabbi to boost the Jewish activity in the city.

Jewish community of Dushanbe is thankful to Valery Davydov and brothers Izmail and David Ilyasov for their ongoing support of the community and the former residents of Dushanbe who help to upkeep the local Jewish cemetery.


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NCSJ - 03.03.2006

NCSJ Statement on Demolition of the Synagogue in Dushanbe, Tajikistan

WASHINGTON (NCSJ) -- As you may be aware, the Dushanbe city government began tearing down the synagogue in that city on February 8. The planned demolition has been an ongoing issue for more than three years. The leadership of the synagogue was notified three years ago that the synagogue, and the surrounding non-Jewish buildings remaining in a largely cleared area, would be removed to build a road leading to the new Presidential Palace. Other structures torn down include a mosque and private homes.

The synagogue, built in the 1940s, was nationalized in the 1950s. Since the initial notification of demolition, the synagogue's Rabbi Mikhail Abdurahmonov has been in negotiations to either stop the demolition or to find a centrally located site to build a new synagogue. A difference in opinion exists about whether or not the Tajik government offered to build a new synagogue for the community. The Tajik government offered a plot of land that was rejected by the community because it was not easily accessible to the elderly Jewish community.

In the beginning of this year, Tajik government officials met again with the Jewish community to discuss various options. The negotiations were not successful and the planned demolition ensued. The synagogue leadership is seeking fair financial compensation from the city. The Jewish population of Tajikistan, made up primarily of Bukharan Jews and a small group of Ashkenazi Jews, is estimated at 250-300, with the majority living in Dushanbe. Anti-Semitism has not been a serious problem in Tajikistan. Humanitarian services continue to be provided by JDC and the Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS.

NCSJ has been following the controversy closely and has been in contact with the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Ambassador in Dushanbe, the Tajik Embassy in Washington D.C., the Israeli government, and Rabbi David Gurevich, Chief Rabbi of Uzbekistan. We have also consulted with the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater New York, which is in regular contact with the Bukharan community in New York City.

We will continue to engage all the parties involved and to press for equitable compensation and a suitable site for a new synagogue to be built. We have also inquired about the status of the mosque and other properties. The remainder of the demolition is scheduled for June 2006. 

Following is a statement issued by the Tajik Embassy in Washington D.C. on March 1:



EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF TAJIKISTAN
1005 New Hampshiore Ave., NW
Washington D.C. 20037 
Tel:(202) 223-6090/fax:223-6091

PRESS-RELEASE

First of and foremost, the Embassy of Tajikistan appreciates very much recent attention to needs and problems of our small Jewish community. Therefore, in reference to some anxiety around the question of relocation of a synagogue, the Mission would like to state the following;

According to reconstruction and development program of the downtown of Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, the city Authorities plan to build a National Mall, which would include executive buildings, other visiting sites and etc. For this purpose, Dushanbe Authorities had decided to relocate some buildings and facilities of the area, among them a neighborhood, which includes the Russian 201st Military Base and other very significant buildings.

It is also important to mention that this development project was discussed with respectable historians, architectures, and of course, religious scholars of the Jewish community, where the plan did find support and understanding. As the result of consultations, there is a conclusion that while the synagogue itself is a respected religious site, this state-owned building, built in the 30th of the last century as an ordinary single house, does not have architectural significance and historical value. Despite of it, the question of the relocation of the Jewish synagogue was among those, where the Authorities paid much attention in terms of religious feelings of the community. Moreover, the Embassy would like to highlight that neither the Government of Tajikistan, nor the Mayor’s Office of Dushanbe had ever intended “to demolish” the building without the communities consent.

Consequently, because of sensitivity of the issue, the Mayor of Dushanbe had held consultations with the leaders of Jewish community during the years of 2004 and 2005, when they had come to a mutually agreed solution; According to that, the city’s Authorities in exchange to the old and obviously collapsing building, would designate a location for the synagogue, and then would provide a piece of land for construction of a new, permanent synagogue. The offer, as we believe, is very practical for both sides; from one hand the Authorities would be able to continue the development project and from the other hand the Jewish community would have an opportunity to build a relevant and architecturally valuable house of worship. We truly think that if built, the new synagogue would be another pride example of mutual understanding, and furthermore, it would indeed lay a ground for thrive and progress of the community among the other religious confessions of Tajikistan.

At this moment, it is also appropriate to mention that Tajik and their Jewish community have lived in peace and accord since Biblical times. The Central Asia itself is among few World regions where the history doesn’t know pogroms or hatred between indigenous population and Jewish communities. Therefore, today it’s our policy and responsibility to preserve those relations for the future generations; that’s why the outgoing harmful discussion concerns us very much. So, we highly value this small, but historically and culturally very important community. The relations that exist between Tajik and Bukharian Jewish in Central Asia will always be an example of coexistence and understanding between nations for years to come.

Released by Press-office of the Embassy of Tajikistan to the USA 


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New York Times - March 28, 2006

As a Synagogue Comes Down, a Culture Disappears, Too

By ETHAN WILENSKY-LANFORD

DUSHANBE, Tajikistan — Even during Sabbath services on a Saturday in early March, as Rabbi Mikhail Abdurakhimov read Hebrew prayers and the faithful followed along using Russian transliterations, the rumble of construction was distracting.

This is a synagogue in its last moments of existence. While the congregants prayed, a bright orange bulldozer growled outside, continuing its work at the synagogue's edge.

"They could do this anytime," whispered David Kiselkov, 56. "But of course they choose to do it now."

The synagogue is the last in Tajikistan, and will soon fall victim to redevelopment and the declining Jewish population in this remote post-Soviet state.

In late February, workers demolished part of the synagogue, including a ritual bath, or mikvah. Only a modest brick building remains, a Star of David on the aluminum door.

The house of worship is making way for a grand presidential palace currently under construction. A columned behemoth topped with a cupola, the garish building will stand on a 130-acre plot of parks and palisades.

Dushanbe, a quiet, verdant capital with a single central boulevard, is slowly changing, struggling to emerge from isolation, state Socialism and civil war.

Lenin's statue was recently replaced by a towering golden monument to Ismail Samani, a 9th-century Persian shah reborn as a Tajik hero. A sparkling green bank stands next to an imposing Stalinist government building, freshly painted peach.

Judaism's declining influence in this region can be seen as this synagogue lives out its final days.

About 12,000 Jews left Dushanbe after the Soviet Union's collapse, encouraged, perhaps, by Islamic nationalism during a bloody civil war, from 1992 to 1997. "If they could fight among themselves like that, as if against a different nation or religion, what might they do to us?" Mr. Abdurakhimov said.

Most of the several hundred remaining Jews are elderly, and nearly all have relatives in Israel, Germany or the United States.

Julian Chilmodina, born in Volgograd, Russia, in 1931, was among many thousands of Ashkenazi Jews who moved to Central Asia during World War II, joining Persian-speaking Bukharian Jews who had settled in the region much earlier.

Now he wants to move to Israel, where his younger brother lives. In a bizarre twist reminiscent of Soviet times, he cannot get a visa, he says, because his official ethnicity is Russian, rather than Jewish.

Mr. Chilmodina says his parents disguised his ethnicity before the start of World War II. "I went to the police station, so that I could register as a Jew, but again my passport came back with me as a Russian," he said, laughing at the bureaucracy.

While he waits to try to resolve the issue, Mr. Chilmodina attends services every Saturday. In early March, the prayer room was chilly and dimly lighted because the city had shut off most of the electricity the month before. 

The city offered an empty plot a few miles away for a new synagogue, but the rabbi said the congregation was too poor to rebuild. Jews have worshiped at this site for generations, and the current structure was built in 1947, according to documents the rabbi has. 

Shamsuddin Nuriddinov, head of Dushanbe's municipal department of religious affairs, said that the Jews did not own the synagogue site and that that he hoped they would build a beautiful new one.

Many congregants, while they support the president's new development, feel cast aside. "It will be beautiful, like the White House in America," said Yuri Lukyanov, 30, of the planned palace. "I just wish they would compensate us for what is ours."

During services, Mr. Lukyanov sat next to the rabbi, and left several times to report to him in hushed tones about the work going on outside.

Mr. Lukyanov's mother and sister live near Tel Aviv. He plans to emigrate, too, when his younger brother finishes his mandatory military service.

He wants to marry a Jewish woman, but needs to meet one first. "I do not know any observant Jews here my age," he said.

The synagogue also serves as a community center, where food, medicine and clothing are distributed. Religious holidays were once celebrated in the quiet courtyard, now filled with construction debris.

The United States ambassador, Richard E. Hoagland, said he was certain the land dispute was "not a question of religious freedom, and anti-Semitism is not involved." A Russian military base was also destroyed for the construction project, along with hospitals, schools and countless residences.

But the Jewish heritage here risks being lost, along with the synagogue.

Anna Ferdman, 101, emigrated from Ukraine to Dushanbe, then known as Stalinobad, in 1945, after her husband, Ivan, died in the war. She regularly went to the synagogue until a recent fall left her bedridden. She has watched the Jewish population dwindle.

"Nobody here speaks Yiddish anymore," Ms. Ferdman lamented in her home, after proudly singing for guests in Yiddish, the traditional Ashkenazi language. "Gone are the days when you could say 'Hey! Are you Jewish? Let's talk!' " 

The congregation is visibly faltering. The rabbi has not been officially ordained. Rituals are clumsily observed, if at all. During Sabbath services, a red-haired man stood at the wrong time, only to be berated. 

"What are you doing?" shouted Mr. Kiselkov. "How many years have you been coming here, and still you do not know when to stand up!"


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Federation of Jewish Communities - March 20, 2006

Tajikistan’s Only Synagogue Saved in Nick of Time

DUSHANBE, Tajikistan – A wondrous event has happened for Jews of Dushanbe. The Government of Tajikistan has decided to allow the historical Synagogue in Dushanbe to remain on the site where it has stood for the past 100 years.

Over the past few years, the international Jewish community has been alarmed by the tragic fate of the Dushanbe Synagogue, the only Synagogue in Tajikistan, which was slated for construction to make room for newer developments planned by the municipal government. In this regard, Chief Rabbi of Uzbekistan David Gurevich has paid several visits to Dushanbe in order to meet with foreign ambassadors, state officials and the city’s Mayor, Mahmadsaid Ubaidulayev.

Lev Leviev, the President of the Ohr Avner Foundation and of the Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS, forwarded letters to Tajikistan President Emomali Rakhmonov, in which he expressed concern regarding the fate of the century-old Synagogue. In these messages, Mr. Leviev also expressed his certainty that the Government of Tajikistan, which has always been friendly towards the Jewish Diaspora, will allow this building, which is sacred to Jews of Dushanbe, to remain in its place.

This week’s development has shown that the efforts of the local Jewish community, as well as those taken by Jews throughout the world, have finally been successful.

“We are very happy that the government has decided to keep the Synagogue on its historical site,” expressed Rabbi Gurevich, who plans to appeal to world Jewry at the Sixth Bukharian Jewish Congress, which is to take place in the near future, regarding the required financial support to support the reconstruction of the Dushanbe Synagogue.

Rabbi Gurevich has assured local authorities that, in the case that the Synagogue is able to remain on its historical site, he will find the means to fit the building into the appearance of the ‘Palace of Nations’, which is being built in the city center.

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Jerusalem Post - March 16, 2006

Tajikistan suspends demolition of last shul

By Hilary Leila Krieger

The Tajikistan government has suspended its demolition of the country's only synagogue, though the structure's future remains in limbo. 

Rabbi Mikhail Abdrakh-manov said Thursday that the Tajik authorities had postponed a final decision on the complex's fate until the second half of the year to allow more time to clarify ownership rights over the building. Tajik officials confirmed the suspension but refused to provide more details. 

The mikve and several of the classrooms were torn down last month, with all of the century-old structure slated for razing by June to make way for a new presidential palace. 

Tajik officials offered the couple hundred Jews who use the synagogue in Dunshabe, the ex-Soviet state's capital, other land on the outskirts of the city but no financial compensation. The community is mostly elderly and said to be too poor to build a new house of worship or capable of reaching a facility so far from their homes. 

The World Jewish Congress (WJC), which had campaigned to preserve the synagogue, welcomed the work stoppage while acknowledging that the issue had not yet been fully resolved. 

"We have a victory for common sense and mutual respect," Bobby Brown, director of international affairs for the WJC, said, adding, "We have not yet heard any announcement that there is a permanent halt. We hope that such an announcement will be forthcoming." 

Brown noted that the WJC had been in touch Thursday with UNESCO (UN Educational, Social and Cultural Organization), which had written to the Tajik government in protest of the demolition. The WJC also appealed to the European Commission for help, while the Israeli government was in touch with the Tajik authorities on the issue. 

Additionally, Jews and non-Jews incensed by the synagogue's slated destruction contacted Tajikistan's embassies to protest the decision. 

"It is feared that this demolition will effectively put an end to Jewish life in Tajikistan and will strike a severe blow to the cause of Muslim-Jewish mutual respect and coexistence in the overwhelmingly Muslim Central Asian republic," the petition states. 

Brown attributed the halt on the demolition to pressure from international organizations and government bodies, and media attention. 

"I believe that the Tajik government found that there were too many interested parties who were not going to let this lie," he said. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.



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Euro-Asian Jewish Congress - March 2006

The Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC) expressed a protest to the decision of the Tajikistan authorities to pull down the synagogue building in Dushanbe, the Tajikistan capital. We find it unacceptable as it deprives the Jewish citizens, both religious and secular, of the last asylum it has been for them during the last hundred years.

We applied to Tajikistan leadership several times and asked them to reconsider their decision. And we were not alone. We know that community leaders and the Ambassador of the State of Israel met with officials of different ranks. In particular, the Mayor of Dushanbe promised to the Israeli Ambassador that the old synagogue building will be pulled down only when a new one is built. The same promise was given to the community representatives by the Deputy Prime-Minister of Tajikistan when the latter visited the synagogue.

We do admit that reforms held in the country during the last ten years under the leadership of the President of Tajikistan Emomali Rakhmonov were effective and consolidated the spirit of tolerance in the sphere of interethnic and inter-confessional relations making life of the Jewish community quite comfortable.

We believe that Tajikistan authorities do not intend to harm the Jewish community in the capital, which is not numerous and, unfortunately, aged, and urge them to settle the problem amicably by offering the community another building for synagogue and community center located in then neighborhood of the former one.

[signed]
Alexander Machkevitch,
President of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress,
President of the Jewish Congress of Kazakhstan

[signed]
Michael Chlenov,
Secretary General of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress,
President of the Vaad of Russia

[signed]
Jozef Zissels,
General Council Chairman of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress,
Chairman of the Vaad of Ukraine

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