Holocaust Memorial Synagogue

The Moscow Memorial Synagogue on Poklonnaya Hill was built in 1998 as part of the large Victory Park, opened in 1995 for the 50th anniversary of the Soviet victory in the Great Patriotic War. It commemorates the Jewish victims of the Holocaust together with the more than 500,000 Jewish soldiers of the Red Army. Financed by the Russian Jewish Congress, it was inaugurated in the presence of President Boris Yeltsin. Architect Moshe Zarhi designed a plain white building whose dome echoes Jerusalem precedents. Inside, alongside the prayer hall, the Museum of Jewish Heritage and the Holocaust holds a permanent exhibition on the history of Russian Jews from the 18th century to the present. The visit pairs naturally with the Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War in the same park, a short walk away through Victory Park.