On October 21, Minsk hosted a mourning march and meeting dedicated to the 65th anniversary of the destruction of the Minsk Ghetto. The events were attended by representatives of international and foreign Jewish associations and communities, religious organisations, Belarusian officials and foreign diplomats.
To honour the memory of Holocaust victims in Belarus, participants marched through the territory of the former Minsk Ghetto to the Yama Memorial Complex on Zaslavskaya Street, where the meeting was held.
At its opening, the Head of the Union of Belarusian Jewish Public Associations and Communities Leonid Levin hailed as a landmark event President Aleksander Lukashenko’s speech at the memorial to ghetto victims. In his speech, President Lukashenko spoke highly of Jews’s contribution to victory in WWII and their victims.
In his speech, Moshe Kantor, President of the European Jewish Congress (EJC) and the Russian Jewish Congress (RJC), said that Nazis created 5,000 Jewish ghettos in Europe where three million people were killed. In order to make their memory eternal, the EJC and European Jewish communities have initiated a project to create museums dedicated to Europe’s Babi Yars where, among others, the tragedy of Belarusian Jews will be depicted. Among the challenges that humanity faces today, the EJC President named the threats of xenophobia and collaboration with rogue nations. That is why we must teach tolerance to our young people, Kantor emphasised.
Ze’ev Ben-Aryeh, the Israeli Ambassador to Belarus, called the Yama Memorial Israel’s pain and the whole world’s pain. According to Ben-Aryeh, the lives of those who dedicate themselves to saving memories of the Holocaust are worthy of honour and praise. The activities of Belarusian officials who support these efforts deserve very high praise.
ADDRESS
by Moshe Kantor,
President of the European Jewish Congress and the Russian Jewish Congress
on the 65th anniversary of the elimination of the Minsk Ghetto
Yama Memorial, Minsk, October 21
“Today is one of the saddest days for the Jewish people, and yet it is also a very remarkable day. This is the day we celebrate one of the happiest Jewish holidays – Simchat Torah, when a new cycle of Torah readings begins.
I do not think it was a coincidence that the Nazis chose to eliminate the Minsk Ghetto right before Simchat Torah, just as they chose to exterminate the Jews of Kyiv on Yom Kippur. Those who orchestrated these mass killings sought not only to destroy the Jewish people, but to win a moral victory over the living and the dead. But they failed. Today the Jewish population of the world is larger than it was before the Holocaust.
History knows three waves of the Holocaust. The first stage was die Kristallnacht, the so-called economic Holocaust. This year marks 70 years since die Kristallnacht, and we will commemorate those terrible days in Europe on November 9th and 10th. The first wave was followed by a second wave that swept the Minsk ghetto. This was the hidden Holocaust, the Holocaust of the Babi Yar killings and similar tragedies. According to Yad Vashem, there are at least five thousand killing sites throughout Europe. The hidden Holocaust cleared the way for the Holocaust we all know – the Holocaust of the six death camps in Poland.
The Holocaust of the Minsk ghetto and the Babi Yars claimed the lives of three million Jews. We still have not buried our dead as tradition teaches. That is why the European Jewish Congress has joined forces with the Russian Jewish Congress, the Belarusian community and communities in other countries to initiate a project called Killing Sites in Europe. Commemorating the tragedy of the Jews of Belarus and the Minsk ghetto is an essential part of this project.
I would like to note an important trend I am seeing today. As time goes by, we run into emerging challenges that are comparable to those we faced 65 or 70 years ago. Back then, Europe and the whole world turned a blind eye to what was going on in Germany. People just did not pay attention – or maybe they did not want to pay attention because they were tempted by the benefits of doing business with the flourishing German economy.
Now we are facing the same threats. History is repeating itself, and some are benefiting from cooperation with rogue nations because they are motivated by short-term economic or political gain.
I would like to stress another threat we are all facing, the rising threat of xenophobia and anti-Semitism in Europe and around the world. We live in a world of others. In a world like this, there is no alternative but to cooperate with the others. They are, after all, our neighbours. That is why the statistics we are seeing are so frightening – sixty per cent of Europeans are sick with a disease called xenophobia. That is a fact. We have to learn our history lesson in order to succeed in a great endeavour – the pursuit of tolerance and reconciliation.
I want to leave you today with one thought. Every day Jews recite an important prayer – Shmona Esre, which says that the seeds of deliverance will only grow if planted by man. We are the ones who have to save ourselves from the disease!”
ADDRESS
by Moshe Kantor,
President of the European Jewish Congress and the Russian Jewish Congress
at the official meeting on the 65th anniversary of the elimination of the Minsk ghetto
Minsk Concert Hall, October 21
“The speakers we heard gave an engrossing account of the events that took place here in Belarus. I was deeply touched by the speech of my good friend Leonid Levin and the truly moving performance of the Girls Chorus. I can’t help but wonder why anyone would want to destroy this? Why would anyone want to ruin this peaceful life with tanks or machine-guns? Why fight innocent people with fire and sword to destroy them – ideologically, morally and physically? That is my question to you – why are we called the chosen people? Is it because of our suffering and our tragic fate?
I believe our people have a mission. With all our tragedies behind us, we are committed to promoting global initiatives to protect humanity from historical amnesia. This disease forces humanity to repeat its mistakes over and over again. This is a very important concept, and I would like to accentuate it with really frightening statistics – today neo-Nazis outnumber Jews in Europe. This trend can be seen in the very countries that recognized their responsibility for the universal evil called neo-Nazism.
This year marks a number of very important events. First of all, 90 years have passed since the end of WWI. Its aftermath inspired an unfortunate artist, Adolf Schicklgruber, now known to everyone as Adolf Hitler, to write Mein Kampf, which was actually his plan for exterminating Jews. The book was printed in 1923. Ten years later, in 1933, the civilised state of Germany became the cradle of a criminal regime that announced its objective as the extermination of an entire nation. Die Kristallnacht was only 70 years ago. The Minsk ghetto was eliminated just 65 years ago. But today we are all witnesses as one UN member openly declares its intent to wipe another UN member off the map.
We are watching in silence. I don’t hear any protests from UN members. The last time such statements were made, delegates to the UN General Assembly applauded. Historical lessons are not something we can afford to relegate to textbooks. We and our children, and ever future generation, must study the lessons of history on a daily basis. Thoughtful commemoration is the only medicine that can prevent historical amnesia.
Still, I would like to note that our tragic history gives us the right to create, as well as the right to forewarn. I want to use this opportunity to say something that not everybody knows. Belarus is the birthplace of outstanding artists, sculptors and architects. Everyone knows Marc Chagall! But Belarus is also home to Chaim Soutine, Jacques Lipchitz, Leon Bakst and many others, who are now part of the 20th century’s heritage.
The European Jewish Congress plans to offer an initiative to the Belarusian Government and the President to arrange a large-scale exhibition of Belarusian artists within the next year or two.
This is a book published by the European Jewish Congress. It is dedicated to Belarusian Jewish artists. Not many of you have had a chance to see this book, but soon it will be available at libraries all over the globe. You see these pink markers – they mark Belarusian artists who are the pride of 20th century art. I want to ask our friend Leonid Levin, who is our vice president and the leader of Belarusian Jewry, to handle arrangements for the exhibition. We will contribute the collection.
I want to sum up with a very important notion. What gives us the power to live and thrive, raising our children and bettering our countries, despite all of our problems? Why are Belarusian Jews still able to make an important contribution to progress in Belarus?
Today is one of our happiest holidays – Simchat Torah, when a new cycle of Torah readings begins. At the same time, the old cycle of Torah reading ends. Every time I read the Torah I find something new. Each year I find new ideas that inspire me and keep me moving. In the afterword to its final chapter, the Torah says that there is only one way to overcome all the problems and obstacles in life – through integrity and courage. I want to address these words to the President and people of Belarus, including the local Jewish community.
Thank you!”
