On the 20th of October 1941 more than 16,000 Jews from the city of Mariupol were cruelly executed by the Nazis. 71 years later the Jewish community continues to remember and honor those who died in vain, by gathering at the site where they were shot and buried.
What used to be a small tank ditch, near the small suburban town of Agrobaza, was turned into a mass murder and burial site by the Nazis during the Second World War. More than 16,000 Jews were led that day to their deaths merely for being Jewish.
71 years later the Jewish community of Mariupol, Ukraine, led by the city’s Rabbi, Rabbi Menachem Cohen, and dignitaries, gathered to recite the prayers of Kaddish and Yizkor, listen to speeches and words of inspiration and light candles in their memory.
Poems were read aloud by the children of the FJC ‘Or Avner’ Jewish school, and memorial songs were performed by Herman Lopatzky.
The delegation of dignitaries included: Mr. Mayor Yuri Hotlubey, MP Alex White, First Deputy Mayor Gennady Mitrofanov, Deputy Mayor Tatiana Lomakin, the Party of Regions Peter Ivanov, a deputy of the city council Strimovsky Alexander, and the managing director of the executive committee, Peter Dziuba.