An International team of archeologists unearthed the bimah of the Great
Synagogue of Vilnius. The bimah is the synagogue's central prayer platform.
The Great Synagogue of Vilnius was a 17th-century building that was
destroyed by the Nazis and Soviets during World War II. The synagogue was
built in 1630 on a site that has been used as a synagogue beginning in 1440.

A school was built by the Soviets' over the Grand Synagogue in 1950's. They
were tearing down the school when they found it under the office of the
principal of a kindergarten.

The Nazis burned down the synagogue and the remains were later demolished by
the Soviet regime that built a kindergarten, later turned into the primary
school, on the property.

Before the war, Jews accounted for around one-third of the city's then
60,000 residents, but most of them perished under Nazi Germany's 1941-1944
occupation.

To read more see:
https://eurojewcong.org/news/communities-news/lithuania/archeologists-find-b
imah-of-historic-synagogue-in-vilnius-destroyed-by-nazis-and-soviets/

Jan Meisels Allen
Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee