Holocaust Survivor Oleg Mortkovich Meets with Jewish Youth in Baku

A Baku-based Jewish school hosted a meeting between Holocaust survivor Oleg Efimovich Mortkovich and local students. The event was organized by the Jewish Community of Baku under the auspices of the EAJC Representation in Russia.

Oleg Mortkovich, President of the Moscow Association of Jewish Former Ghetto and Nazi Concentration Camp Survivors, shared the story of his childhood during the Holocaust.

Oleg Efimovich's parents perished in the Vinnitsa region in 1943. Throughout the years of Nazi occupation, he was hidden in a cellar by Natalya Fedorovna Bondar, who was later recognized as Righteous Among the Nations. Oleg Mortkovich is one of only three residents of the Dashev settlement to survive the Shoah. His remarkable and tragic story deeply moved the audience.

For many years, Oleg Efimovich has led the International Association of Jewish Former Child Survivors of Ghettos and Nazi Concentration Camps, an EAJC member organization that unites Shoah survivors. The association's meetings with Jewish youth aim to preserve the historical memory of the Holocaust, which represents a key area of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress's work.

We express our gratitude to Yefim Leznik, Director of the Or Avner Chabad Day School, and Evgeny Brenneysen, Deputy Chairman of the Baku Religious Community of European Jews, for organizing this event.