 In 1846, when Sir Moses Montefiore visited the synagogue, the treasurers distributed entrance tickets to the masses of people.The synagogue was looted, burned and partly destroyed by the Nazis during World War II.The ruined synagogue and the whole "schulhof" complex that had grown around it were demolished by the Soviet authorities from 1955 to 1957 and were intentionally replaced by a basketball court and a kindergarten to effectively prevent any future initiatives to rebuild a cultural monument.