The ANU Museum of the Jewish People Hosted a Commemorative Event Dedicated to the 'Night of the Murdered Poets'

On August 11, a private memorial evening dedicated to the executed members of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee (JAC) took place at the Anu Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv. Supported by the Nadav Foundation and the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, the event was attended by Alla Zuskin and David Markish, the children of the cultural figures sentenced and executed in the JAC case. The evening featured unique video materials and an excerpt from the new documentary "The Strangers," which focuses on the antisemitic campaigns of the late Stalinist era.

The execution of those sentenced in the JAC case represents one of the most tragic chapters in the campaign to eradicate Jewish culture in the USSR. The night of August 11–12, 1952, entered Jewish history as the "Night of the Murdered Poets," although only four poets and one prose writer were among the thirteen executed: poets David Hofstein, Leyb Kvitko, Peretz Markish, and Itzik Feffer; writer David Bergelson; actor and director Benjamin Zuskin; journalists, editors, and translators Ilya Vatenberg, Chaika Vatenberg-Ostrovskaya, Leon Talmy, Emilia Teumin, and Iosif Yuzefovich; Solomon Lozovsky, head of the Soviet Information Bureau; and Boris Shimeliovich, chief physician of the Botkin Central Clinical Hospital. While the lists of those executed and repressed in connection with the JAC case contain hundreds of names, and numerous other "Jewish" cases were prosecuted nationwide, the "Night of the Murdered Poets" remains the symbolic date of remembrance for all victims of that oppressive era.

Dr. Haim Ben Yakov, Director General of the EAJC, addressed the attendees of the memorial evening:

The Euro-Asian Jewish Congress actively participates in projects to commemorate the repressed members of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee. In collaboration with the "Last Address" project, the EAJC has installed several memorial plaques in recent years to honor the memory of JAC members, including Itzik Feffer, Leon Talmy, Benjamin Zuskin, and others. In 2020, the EAJC and the GULAG History Museum published a booklet on the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee titled "The Inextinguishable Lamp."

Additionally, the premiere screening of the documentary "The Markish Case" took place in Moscow in 2020. This six-part documentary project was produced by the Babel bookstore (Tel Aviv) in partnership with the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress. The entire series is available for viewing on the EAJC YouTube channel.

At the beginning of 2021, Hakibbutz Hameuchad Publishing House, with the support of the EAJC, published the Hebrew translation of David Markish's book, "From Border to Border" (the author is the son of the late Peretz Markish). "This is a significant book, both for myself and for the Jewish people," Markish noted in a private letter to EAJC Director General Dr. Haim Ben Yakov.

The EAJC remains committed to initiating and supporting future endeavors to commemorate the repressed members of the JAC. May their memory be a blessing.