In Lviv region, activist tries to salvage synagogue, all by himself

In the city of Brody, Lviv region, an activist tries to salvage the ruined building of the Great Synagogue.

Large organizations, as well as local authorities, do not want to spend money on restoration being motivated by the fact that there is no registered Jewish population at all. Volodymyr Kovalchuk, a resident of the city, has decided to repair the building, Jewish news reports.

Volodymyr clears the building, removes garbage from it and has already cut down the trees that began to grow inside the synagogue. The activist does it all at his own expense.

An open letter was sent to the editors of Vaad of Ukraine:

Hiring people at his own expense, he clears the synagogue from the rubbish on his own. At the same time, he had to struggle with the local authorities, who did not give permission for restoration of the synagogue. Some weird residents also wrote appeals claiming that he was stealing something.

Somehow, he sometimes succeeds to get a worker with a chainsaw or a tractor from the local authorities.

After the Second World War, the building of the city synagogue was heavily damaged. In Soviet times, they carried out repairs of the building and began to use it as a warehouse and cafe during festivities.

In 1988, the building collapsed and since then the authorities have promised to repair the synagogue and make it a picture gallery. However, it all remained promises, and in 2006 the vaults of the structure collapsed.