The South East London Synagogue was established in 1888 by Ashkenazi Jews who had immigrated from Eastern Europe. It was refused membership of the United Synagogue, but was admitted to the Federation of Synagogues. Immanuel Jakobovits was the rabbi just after the Second World War.
History
The synagogue's first premises was a house at 452 New Cross Road, New Cross, London. It then moved to Nettleton Road, followed by a hut in Lausanne Road in 1889.
The first purpose-built synagogue was consecrated in March 1905 and was destroyed by a German air raid on 27 December 1940. After this the congregation moved temporarily to 117 Lewisham Way, returning to its original site at New Cross Road in 1946 – first to a temporary hut and then to a new purpose-built synagogue in 1956. During the period from 1945 to 1947 Immanuel Jakobovits, who later became the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, and was created a life peer in 1988, as Baron Jakobovits, was the rabbi. However, the congregation went into decline and the synagoguge closed in 1985, by which time it only had 56 male members compared with 294 in 1939.
After the closure of the synagogue, the building was left empty for a period and used by squatters. For a while it was used as a rehearsal space for local bands and performance artists including Test Department and Peri Mackintosh's Proj-X. [1]
Subsequently it was acquired by the Jehovah's Witnesses who converted it to a Kingdom Hall.