Soviet authorities in Minsk, capital of Byelorussia, have closed down the last synagogue in that city, and have also desecrated a Jewish cemetery by permitting the burial there of non-Jewish remains, according to information received here from the Soviet Union today.
The synagogue was ordered closed in June, and is now being torn down to make way for a new apartment house. Minsk, once a great Jewish religious and cultural center, will thus be without a Jewish house of worship for this year’s High Holy Days. There are still about 50,000 Jews living in Mirsk.
Last month, after authorities in Moscow had declared the old Jewish cemetery in that city closed to further burials, a similar order was issued in Minsk. There, a new cemetery was opened, and Jews were allowed to consecrate the grounds. Since then, however, it was learned today, the consecration was nullified.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
