This evening, which took place in one
of the most prestigious auditoriums of Russia’s capital, was attended
by prominent public figures, ministers, diplomats, the leadership of
the Russian Federation Archive Service and former ghetto prisoners and
war veterans. The diplomatic corps was represented by Extraordinary
and Plenipotentiary Ambassadors of Austria, Germany, Israel, Poland and
Turkey; Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary of the
Netherlands, Austria and Latvia; and diplomats from Hungary, Italy,
Lithuania and the USA. At least one-third of the participants in this
event was made up of over 150 schoolchildren and students from 30
Moscow schools and universities and their teachers, who sat near quite
a colorful group of young people dressed in the uniforms of the Israel
Defense Force. An exhibition devoted to Anne Frank, courtesy of the
Dutch Anne Frank Foundation (Anne’s father, Otto Frank, was one of the
258 Jews freed in Auschwitz), was on display in the foyer.
The evening began with a Kadish
prayer performed by the Moscow Male Jewish Choir Hasidic Cappella
directed by AlexanderTsaluk. This was followed by the appeal to the
audience from Alla Gerber, president of the Holocaust Foundation and
member of the RF Public Chamber and host of the Commemorative Evening,
to hold a one-minute silence to in memory of the victims of the
Holocaust and warriors-liberators.
The RF Minister of Culture, Alexander
Avdeyev, noted that Nazi camps became symbols of “the gravest crimes
against humanity committed by the fascists and, at the same time, of
the largeness and the will to live of the prisoners”.
According to Mikhail Shvydkoi,
Russian President's Special Representative for International Cultural
Cooperation, Auschwitz may be compared with a crucifixion that takes
place in the people’s souls and hearts.
Sergei Melnikov, deputy head of the
Humanitarian Policy and Public Relations Department at the RF President
Internal Policy Directorate, read the message of the head of the
Presidential Executive Office, Sergei Naryshkin, addressed to the
audience.
Israeli Ambassador to Russia Anna Azari spoke about the Germans
suffering from the post-traumatic effect of genocide. She also noted:
“Although such a trauma does not even entail and post-trauma”.The Polish and German ambassadors also spoke at the Commemorative Evening.
The only living Jewish survivor of
Auschwitz, Anatoly Vanukevich, who lives in Moscow, shared his memories
about the death camp and was greeted by a standing ovation. The
daughters of Meier Lay, the former Chief Israeli Rabbi and the present
chairman of the Yad Vashem Museum’s Council, Julia and Elena, related
the story of their father being saved in Bukhenvald by Fyodor
Mikhailichenko, a Soviet prisoner from Rostov-on-Don. They were also
greeted by an ovation.
The evening was concluded by the
prize-awarding ceremony of the Annual International Contest “Lessons of
the Holocaust – Path to Tolerance” of works created by teachers,
students and schoolchildren. Schoolchildren who became the winners of
this contest were invited to the annual Tenth Conference in Brest and
the teachers who won it attended a seminar in Yad Vashem. Ilya Altman
and Alexander Gorelik, director of the UN Information Center in Russia,
informed the students, winners in the contest, that they were invited
to UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. E.Mushtavinskaya, graduate of
Hertsen RGPU, spoke on behalf of the contest participants. This contest
and the prize-awarding ceremony became possible thanks to government
funding provided in the form of a grant in accordance with RF President
Order #160-rp of March 16, 2009.
Unique documentaries about the liberation of ghettos and Nazi camps in
the former Soviet Union and Europe in 1941-1945 by Soviet troops were
shown at this commemorative event.At the end of the evening, the Hasidic Cappella sang the famous Victory Day song.
The preparations for the memorial
evening and the event itself were covered by over 20 mass media outlets
from Russia and other countries, including leading news agencies such
as ITAR-TASS, Interfax and RIA-Novosti (including the TV bridge
Russia-Israel aired on January 28), Reuters and France Press; TV
channels TVC, Culture, Fifth (St.Petersburg), RUSSIA Today (English,
Spanish and Arabian Departments) and Zvezda; German Television; the
Russian Services of BBC, Radio Svoboda and Radio France; the radio
stations Echo of Moscow and the Russian News Service; the newspapers
Izvestiya, Moskovsky Komsomolets and Tribuna; the magazines
Kommersant-Vlast, Russian Newsweek and many others.