Memorial stones to be set at mass grave sites (archives)
Photo: AFP
Holocaust mass graves memorialized
Groundbreaking project commemorates mass murders of Jews in the towns of Ukrainian towns, marking 70 years since Holocaust
The Lo Tishkach Foundation, in cooperation with the Association of Jewish Communities of Ukraine (VAAD), and the United States Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad, is commemorating the mass murders of Jews in Ukrainian towns, with the setting of memorial stones at these sites, marking 70 years since the mass killings of Jews during the Holocaust.
Renovation and memorialisation projects at these sites have been made possible following surveys at all Jewish cemeteries and Holocaust mass grave sites in Kiev Oblast, undertaken by local youth and students, and coordination by the Lo Tishkach Foundation.
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The placing of official memorials at these sites has been enabled by a kind donation from Jonathan J. Rikoon, facilitated by the United States Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad.
Memorial stones were to be inaugurated in Baryshivka, Fastiv, Dymer, Brovary and Tarascha.
The memorialisation of these sites marks the first stage in a vast renovation and memorialisation project currently undertaken by the Lo Tishkach Foundation, which was set up in 2006 by the Conference of European Rabbis and the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany with a remit to preserve the memory and protect the thousands of Jewish burial sites across the European continent.
Since 2009, the Lo Tishkach Foundation has surveyed hundreds of sites across Ukraine, taking in the Oblasts of Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kiev, Odessa and Zakarpattia, and representing over one third of the territory of Ukraine.
As results from these surveys are processed, detailing the current situation on the ground at these sites, many further renovation and memorialisation projects are scheduled.
The Lo Tishkach Foundation said it was grateful for the support provided by the United States Commission, enabling the protection and memorialisation of these sites, so that the memory of Jewish victims killed in the Holocaust will not be forgotten.
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