Euroasian Jewish News
Memorial Evening in Moscow
29.01.2013 Representatives of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress participated in a memorial evening dedicated to the International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The memorial evening was organized by the Holocaust Foundation and Center, and took place on January 27 in the Great Hall of the Central House of Writers in Moscow.
Among those who took part in the memorial evening were leaders and active members of Jewish organizations, public figures, and representatives of the diplomatic corps. People's Artist of Russia Tamara Gverdciteli accompanied by the Men's Jewish Chamber Choir conducted by Alexander Tsalyuk had sung before the audience. A fragment of Galina Yevtushenko's new documentary, “Dodik,” about the young ghetto prisoner and partisan Semen Dodik. The real Dodik had also participated in the memorial evening. The evening had been hosted by Alla Gerber, a member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation and President of the Holocaust Foundation.
The event including the awarding of the victors of XI International Competition of Teachers, School and University Students “The Holocaust: Memory and Warning.”
Ambassador of the State of Israel to the Russian Federation presented Righteous Gentiles medals and diplomas that have been given posthumously to the descendants of the heroes who live in Moscow, Saint-Petersburg and Togliatti.
As EAJC PR Department Head Roman Spector noted, “Holocaust remembrance evenings have been held in Moscow since 1995 and have already become traditional. They are held by those who will never forget – by Jewish organizations, even if aided by the Moscow city authorities. Notably, Russia, though it is the legal successor of the Soviet Union, on whose territory millions of Jews were killed, still has not declared January 27 as an official memorial day, which would have followed the spirit and letter of the UN General Assembly Resolution of 2007. Perhaps this is the reason that the central TV channels, showing stories on Holocaust Remembrance Day, talked about the new Russian exposition in the Auschwitz museum, about the great and indisputable service of the Red Army in saving surviving victims of Nazism, about attempts to rewrite history... In short, of everything but of one short word - “Jews.” The incident with the Zmiyevska Balka memorial comes to mind, where local authorities ordered the removal of a memorial plaque mentioning the murdered Jews. I would like to hope that these are secluded instances, and not a returning disease [of anti-Semitism. - transl].”
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