Demolition begins at Tajikistan’s only synagogue

DUSHANBE, Tajikistan — City authorities demolished the ritual bathhouse, classroom and kosher butchery of the synagogue in the capital city of Dushanbe Jan. 7–20. The only functioning synagogue in Tajikistan, it was built by local Jews a century ago. When a congregation member filmed the destruction, officials threatened to break his video camera, a local resident told Forum 18 News Service.

The demolition of the synagogue itself — part of city redevelopment plans — is due to be completed in June, though some fear it could happen sooner. “It is a lie to say that the Dushanbe Jews paid for construction of the synagogue,” Shamsuddin Nuriddinov of the city’s religious affairs department told Forum 18. “So, if the Jews want to have a synagogue, let them pay for it out of their own funds.” The Jewish community — mainly made up of Bukharan Jews — is mostly elderly and poor and cannot afford to build a new synagogue.