Архив за July 2011

Israel-Russia. Via electronic media, most people of the Jewish community have been informed, that in Russia, in the Israeli Center for Culture of the Israeli embassy, and in the “Givat ha-Tachmoshet” national memorial complex in Jerusalem would be held an opening ceremony for a memorial plaque. The plaque is dedicated to Leonid Buber, hero of the former Soviet Union.

Leonid Terushkin, head of the archive of the Russian Research and Educational Holocaust center, held a speech about the life of Buber in Moscow. When he was still a young lieutenant, he already fought in the finno-soviet war. As of his extraordinary deeds he was awarded with the title “Hero of the Soviet Union”. This is especially interesting, because during this war, nearly no decorations were given. Later on he served in the “Great Patriotic War” where he fought in the battle of Orel-Kursk, for which he gained the “Red Star” of the Soviet Union.

After the war, Leonid Buber managed to escape Stalin’s repression through working in the Jewish Antifashist Committee of the Soviet Union. There he worked until he retired and died in 2005.

In the end of 2005, the Russian Research and Educational Holocaust Center published unique photos between 1930 and 1990, which so far had been stored in an archive in Lithuania. The photograph were sent to Ljubov Leonidovna, daughter of Leonid Buber.

During the ceremony for Leonid Buber, lectured the director of the „Givat ha-Tachmoshet“, Shimon „Katscha“ Kaganer, who is a former officer. He, who had fought in many wars, stressed the importance of the plaque, as Leonid Buber is a Jewish hero and idol which helped him through all the battles he had been in. Under the participants of the ceremony were many prominent people of the public life, as for example Kirill Rabin, head of the youth organization NDI and the spokesman of the Union of World War II Veterans David Tribelskij.

Tribelskij stressed in his speech the importance of remembering Leonid Buber, as until now, only few veterans knew about the „Hero of the Soviet Union“. In consequence, the Union of World War II Veterans decided to appoint Buber posthumously as honorary member of the Union. Tribelskij also mentioned, how Israel’s attitude towards Jews of the former Soviet Union had changed. Some time ago, they were only fewed as victims of the Holocaust, but the young people nowadays rather few them as those who marched against Berlin. Therefore the memorial plaque is an important step, because it honours those who fought in order that Israel once would be.

Between the 16^th and the 19^th of June, Alla Gerber, president of the “Fond Holocaust” and member of the Public Chamber of Russia went together with Sergej Rjachowskij and Aleksander Brod to Latvia and Estonia. Aim of the journey was to sensitize the people of these countries for the Holocaust, antisemetism and xenophobia not only in Russia, but also in the CIS- and Baltic states.

Israel. At the 90^th anniversary  of the commander of the Jewish partisan group “Posharsky”, and ex-partisan Leonid Berenstein, who was awarded with several decoration of the USSR, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia, Ukraine, and of course from Yad Vashem, received a card from professor Ilya Altman, co-chairman of the “Holocaust” Center, in which he congratulates Berenstein.

 In the letter Ilya Altman writes, that Berenstein is mentioned in the recently published encyclopedia about the “Holocaust on the territory of the USSR”. Besides, professor Altman wishes Leonid Berenstein on behalf of the Russian Research and Educational “Holocaust” Center good wealth and the opportunity to pass on the memory of what had happened 70 years ago to the next generation, as they have a right to know about their history.

At the 7^th of July the 7^th annually held presentation of students works about the Holocaust took place in the UNESCO headquarter in Paris. This international competition between students was led by Alla Gerber, president of the fond „Holocaust“, and Ilya Altman, co-chairman of the Center „Holocaust“. Four students attended the competition: Anna Vitkina and Ekaterina Zlochevskaya from Moskau, Wladimir Karpov from Novgorod as well as Anastasia Rogova from Nizhniy Novgorod. Besides also a representative from Belarus, Nikita Dunes, came to Paris.

The first day after their arrivel, an excursion to the nearby memorial site of Sorbonne was made, where the participants learned about the hope and the faith of the French Jews. After the visit, the students had the possibility to talk to a member of the museum’s staff.

The presentation of the students works was held the next day in the UNESCO headquarter, where the students were introduced to the general director Irina Bokova, as well as to Eleonora Mitrofanova, UNESCO emassador of Russia. Besides many people of public life, so as Shimon Samuels, head of the Simon Wiesenthalcenter, or Michael Gurfinkel, author of many books about Holocaust memorial.

Special thanks from the Russian representatives to the French embassy in Russia, which arranged the visas.