Caucasian Synagogue in Krynki

For decades films were shown here in the "Malwa" cinema, while bricked-up windows hid the old prayer hall. The Caucasian Synagogue in Krynki (the Kaukaski Beit Midrash) is a brick synagogue built around 1850 for Jewish tanners, a few steps from the town's famous star-shaped square. After a thorough restoration its windows have been reopened, and it now houses the local cultural centre – one of the most important traces of Jewish heritage in the Podlasie region of north-east Poland.

Krynki – a tanners' town

Jews settled in Krynki from the 16th century, and in 1639 they received a privilege to build a synagogue, a cemetery and a ritual bath. In the 19th century the town lived from tanning; by 1914 it had around 10,000 inhabitants, 90% of them Jewish. In 1905 the tanners called a general strike and ran the town for several days – an episode known as the "Krynki Republic". The community was destroyed in the Holocaust: on 2 November 1942 about 5,000 Jews were deported to the Kiełbasin camp near Grodno, and the ghetto was liquidated in January 1943. The Jews of Krynki were murdered at Treblinka.

History of the building

The synagogue served the tanners and was the main house of prayer of a poor Jewish quarter known as Kaukaz (the Caucasus). Where did the name come from? One version says from the quarter itself, another from merchants who imported hides from the Caucasus for the local tanneries. On 28 June 1941, after the Germans arrived, the synagogue was closed, and a few days later its interior was wrecked and burned. In 1955 it was converted into a cinema: the bimah was removed and the windows of the women's gallery and some of those in the prayer hall were bricked up. A cultural centre has used the building since 1995.

Exterior restoration was completed in 2020, with a new roof structure, the 19th-century colour scheme restored and the frieze brought out more clearly. In 2025 conservation of the interior began, costing almost PLN 2 million: the bricked-up window openings were uncovered and new frames were made to match the one surviving original. The restored synagogue was formally reopened in the presence of the regional heritage conservator and Bob Silverstein, representing the descendants of Krynki's Jews, with a concert of klezmer music.

What to see

• The square building, 16 m on each side, with a hipped roof, cornices, a panelled frieze and round-headed windows.
• The reopened windows – letting light into the hall again after decades.
• A memorial plaque from the Foundation for Eternal Memory, in Polish and Hebrew.
• Inside, a memorial room devoted to Krynki's Jewish community and exhibitions held by the cultural centre.

Tripto tip

You can see the exterior from the street at any time. The interior is open during events and the cultural centre's working hours – no regular visiting hours or prices have been published, so contact the centre or the Krynki town hall before you go. The synagogue itself takes 20–30 minutes, but Krynki deserves longer. A few minutes away is the star-shaped market square with 12 radiating streets, laid out by Antoni Tyzenhauz and the only one of its kind in Poland, along with the ruins of the Great Synagogue, a brick Hasidic synagogue and a large Jewish cemetery. Krynki lies on the Belarusian border, about 45 km east of Białystok.