Where We Once Gathered, Lost Synagogues of Germany

The Lost Synagogues is a collection of vibrant paintings depicting synagogues that were eradicated before and during WWII. Andrea Strongwater has researched Jewish communities across Europe to connect archival photos with written records that together tell the story of European Jewish life before the holocaust. Ms. Strongwater brings this world back to life through her art. You will feel as if you can walk into these buildings, and you will recognize their relations in many of the synagogues we know today. "Lost Synagogues? They are lost only if we forget. How can we even begin to discuss what was lost until we know what was before. Strongwater’s paintings evoke the beauty and vitality of the lost communities of Europe. Just like the 6,000,000 Jews murdered, the synagogues and the communities that they represent must be remembered. Families worked, lived, learned and loved in these diverse places. Blacksmiths and teachers, tailors and doctors, beggars and moguls, mothers, fathers, and children created communities in every sense of that word – communities that centered around the ubiquitous, often imposing (though sometimes humble) structures shown in Where We Once Gathered, Lost Synagogues of Europe." Stephen M. Goldman, Executive Director Holocaust Memorial Center, Zekelman Family Campus