The opening ceremony of the Memorial of Kolishki Jewish Cemetery recently took place in the Vitebsk Region.
Just four years ago, the site was a forest, but through the efforts of the Vitebsk Jewish Community, significant attention and support were garnered for this project.
Key contributors to the project included the Jewish Cultural Centre “Mishpokha,” the Union of Belarusian Jewish Public Associations and Communities, local donors, relatives of Jews buried at the cemetery, local authorities, and volunteers.
“As a result, today we have 400 renewed and catalogued headstones so that descendants can learn about the people buried there. A memorial in the form of a tree with cut branches symbolises the memory of Holocaust victims,” said Oleg Rogatnikov, Chairman of the Union of Belarusian Jewish Public Associations and Communities.
Participants of the opening ceremony brought stones and flowers in memory of Jews killed by Nazi criminals and buried near the cemetery.
The Vitebsk Jewish Community plans to continue the renewal works and welcomes any assistance in this ongoing process.
