The Czernowitz Synagogue was a domed, Moorish Revival synagogue built in 1873 in what is now Chernivtsi, Ukraine. At the time it was built, the city was known as Czernowitz and was part of Austria-Hungary. The architect was Julian Zachariewicz (1873–78).[1]
The synagogue was confiscated and closed by the Soviet government after it gained Northern Bukovina (of which Czernowitz is the largest city) from Romania in 1940. The building was burned by German and Romanian soldiers in 1941, after Nazi-allied Romania retook the city. In 1959, the outer walls were used to partially reconstruct the building for use as a movie theater called "Zhovten" ("October"), and the structure was renamed "Chernivtsi" [1] in early 1990. The building lost its dome and retains very little of its former appearance.
Joseph Schmidt sang in the choir as a boy and served as cantor as an adult.