Jews and non-Jews come together in Lviv to promote Holocaust education

A Holocaust education conference in Lviv this month is confronting Ukrainians with their history of violent events against Jews.

Ukrainian Jews and non-Jews came for the first conference of its kind that is open to the public on July 3-18. The NADAV Foundation, the main sponsor of the conference, joined together with a number of Jewish organisations in Israel and Ukraine to organise this conference.

The timing of the conference is not coincidental: The extermination of Ukraine’s Jews began on June 30, 1941 and heinous and murderous pogroms were carried out in villages throughout the country on July 3.

On Tuesday, July 3, Shimon Briman, a Jewish historian and journalist of Ukrainian origin, took conference participants to visit sites where these murders took place and spoke with them about these atrocities.

The location of the conference was also carefully selected. It is taking place in the outskirts of what used to be the Jewish Ghetto of Lvov, and on the railroad tracks that led to the concentration and extermination camps. There is currently a museum of terror located there.

In contrast with previous conferences which involved only Jewish participants, conference organisers have shown great courage and finally invited Israelis, Jews, Ukrainians and other Europeans to take.
Conference organizers have proposed creating joint delegations made up of Israelis, Jewish Ukrainians and non-Jewish Ukrainians. They are hoping this will help the younger generation open up new doors, leave behind the generalisations they have always heard, and be willing to face accurate historical facts.

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