The EAJC delegation participated in the events commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Babi Yar massacre

12/10/2021

On October 5-6 the delegation of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress including the EAJC President Dr. Mikhail Mirilashvili, the EAJC board chairman Aaron G. Frenkel, and the EAJC Director General Dr. Haim Ben Yakov participated in a series of events commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Babi Yar massacre. As part of the Jewish community of Moldova delegation, the EAJC vice-presidents Alexander Bilinkis and Emmanuel Grinshpun also took part in the events.

With the support of EAJC and the The Jewish Confederation of Ukraine a film festival «Holocaust. We remember» was held. The festival was opened with a film of Switzerland and Germany joint production titled «When Hitler stole pink rabbit». The film tells a story of a nine-year-old girl Anna, who had to leave Berlin with her family because of Nazi persecution in 1933, leaving her favourite toy, a stuffed rabbit. 5 films produced by the United States, the United Kingdom, Israel, Switzerland, Germany, France, Canada, the Czech Republic, Belarus and Russia were presented during the festival, among them an animated film «263 nights», produced with the support of the EAJC, was shown.

“The Holocaust is a very difficult topic to deal with. Each of these films reveals emotional, cultural, artistic aspects of the Shoa. In presenting new stories, facts and perspectives we bring novelty to the topic, continue it, keep it alive. Today it is essential to present information in different formats. The visual art can help to represent the most difficult historical events”, said the EAJC Director General Dr. Haim Ben Yakov.

Right before the events commemorating the 80th anniversary of Babi Yar the book «The Righteous Among the Nations. Ukraine» was published with the support of the EAJC. Before the book’s release, the RBK-Ukraine interviewed the head of the Jewish Confederation of Ukraine Inna Yoffe.

“In the terrible years of the Second World War, there were people who could not remain indifferent to the tragedy of the Jewish people. More than 2,500 the Righteous Among the Nations are officially recognized in Ukraine. We have to pay tribute and respect to each and every one of them. Therefore it was essential for us and our colleagues from the Jewish Confederation of Ukraine to publish the book «The Righteous Among the Nations. Ukraine», which we have the honour to present today”, said Dr.Mikhail Mirilashvili, the President of EAJC.

The memorial to the victims of the massacre in Babi Yar was inaugurated on October 6. The ceremony was attended by the Presidents of Ukraine, Israel, Germany and Albania as well as other dignitaries.

Ukraine was the first country to be visited by Israeli President-elect Yitzhak Herzog in June 2021 to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the diplomatic relations’ establishment between the State of Israel and the countries of the FSU. During the visit, Yitzhak Herzog had a meeting with the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky. With the support of EAJC, a special reception and an opening ceremony of the Jewish National Fund representation in Ukraine were held.

“Strengthening the relations between the State of Israel and the Diaspora countries is one of the focus of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress. We hope that the visit of the President of Israel to Ukraine will be a good start of our cooperation for the benefit of the State of Israel and the Jewry of the Diaspora”, said the President of EAJC Dr.Mikhail Mirilashvili.