Moscow honored the victims of the Buenos Aires terrorist attack of July 18, 1994

July 18, 2019, marks the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attack on the Argentine Jewish Mutual Association (AMIA) in Buenos Aires. The car bomb explosion claimed 85 lives and injured 330 people.

On June 26, a memorial ceremony to commemorate this tragedy was held at the residence of the Argentine Ambassador to Russia. The event was attended by Alla Gerber, President of the Holocaust Foundation; Oleg Mordkovich, Chairman of the Moscow Association of Jewish Ghetto and Concentration Camp Survivors; Alik Nadan, Director of the JDC Representative Office in Russia; Bella Waldberg, Director of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress in Russia; as well as Argentine and Israeli diplomats. The ceremony was hosted by Ricardo Lagorio, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Argentine Republic to the Russian Federation, and Yuri Kanner, President of the Russian Jewish Congress.

Attendees were shown a short documentary about the tragedy, which was followed by a memorial prayer for the victims of the terrorist attack.

The words spoken at the ceremony on this day resonate deeply with us all:

“We recognize that we cannot alter the past. We recognize that we cannot change others. However, we can change ourselves. May this morning of remembrance compel us to reflect on what we have achieved over these years to bring healing to our world. May G-d grant us the strength to work together for a world free from any form of hatred, violence, and ignorance. Help us, Lord, to grow through this tragedy, to sustain faith alongside its victims, the survivors, and the entire nation of Argentina. Unite us as one human family, bound by a shared commitment to justice and peace-building.”