The ANU Museum to host memorial evenings dedicated to the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee

The ANU Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv will host commemorative events dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the execution of the members of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee (JAC). The Euro-Asian Jewish Congress is joining in support of the events through informational coverage. Thus, on Thursday, August 4, a lecture by prose writer and literary historian Natalya Gromova, titled "The Apogee of Stalinism and the Destruction of Jewish Culture in the USSR (1945–1953)," will take place. This will be followed on Thursday, August 11, by a literary and theatrical performance, "We Mourn You with All the Letters of the Alef-Bet..." The events are organized by the International Yiddish Center at the World Jewish Congress in cooperation with the ANU Museum and the Nadav Foundation.

In her lecture, Natalya Gromova will discuss the events that preceded the final suppression of Jewish culture in the USSR. These include the decrees of the CPSU Central Committee on culture and art, the campaigns against "cosmopolitans," the Soviet authorities' banning of "The Black Book" — a collection of documents and eyewitness testimonies concerning Nazi crimes against the Jewish people on the occupied territories of the USSR and Poland during World War II — the murder of the director, actor, and educator Solomon Mikhoels, the dissolution of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee, the Leningrad affair, the theatrical critics' trial, the arrests of Jewish writers, and other events. Additionally, the literary historian will address the role and involvement of Soviet writers in the aforementioned events.

The performance "We Mourn You with All the Letters of the Alef-Bet...", written by Mordechai Yushkovsky, is directed by Mikhail Teplitsky, artistic director of the Malenky Theater. Well-known Israeli actors Elena Yaralova, Andrey Kashker, and Nikolay Tuberovsky will perform selected poetry and prose. According to the organizers, the objective of the production is to draw attention to the works of authors who fell victim to the Stalinist political terror.

Further details regarding the commemorative events are available on the ANU Facebook page.

The execution of those sentenced in the JAC case represents one of the most tragic chapters in the campaign to eliminate Jewish culture in the USSR. The night of August 11–12, 1952, has entered Jewish history as the "Night of the Murdered Poets," although the thirteen individuals executed included four poets and one prose writer: poets David Hofstein, Leyb Kvitko, Peretz Markish, and Itzik Feffer; novelist David Bergelson; actor and director Benjamin Zuskin; journalists, editors, and translators Ilya Vatenberg, Chaika Vatenberg-Ostrovskaya, Leon Talmy, and Emilia Teumin; Joseph Yuzefovich; Solomon Lozovsky, head of the Soviet Information Bureau; and Boris Shimeliovich, chief physician of the Botkin Central Clinical Hospital. Although the lists of those executed and repressed in connection with the JAC trials number in the hundreds, and numerous other "Jewish cases" were prosecuted nationwide, the "Night of the Murdered Poets" is universally recognized as the symbolic date of commemoration for all those who perished during that dark era.

The Euro-Asian Jewish Congress actively supports initiatives to memorialize the repressed members of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee. Over the past years, EAJC, in cooperation with the "Last Address" project, installed several memorial plaques commemorating members of the JAC. In particular, plaques were dedicated to Itzik Feffer, Leon Talmy, Benjamin Zuskin, and others. In 2020, EAJC and the GULAG History Museum published a brochure on the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee titled "The Unquenchable Lamp."

Furthermore, in 2020, the premiere screening of "The Markish Case" — a unique six-part documentary project co-produced by the Babel Bookstore (Tel Aviv) and the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress — took place in Moscow. All episodes of the film are available on the EAJC YouTube channel.

In early 2021, the Hakibbutz Hameuchad publishing house, with the support of EAJC, published the Hebrew translation of "From Border to Border," a book by David Markish, son of the late Peretz Markish. "This is an important book, both for me and for Jewish people," wrote D. Markish in a personal letter to EAJC Director General Dr. Haim Ben Yakov.

EAJC remains committed to initiating and supporting future efforts aimed at preserving the memory of the persecuted members of the JAC. May their memory be a blessing.