BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

16/04/2008

Belarusian Jews want Holocaust day

Belarusian Jews want to establish a national Holocaust day.

Jewish organizations have approached different government agencies in order to establish a day of memory for Belarusian Jews who perished in Holocaust, Leonid Levin, the head of the Union of Belarusian Jewish Public Associations and Communities, told JTA. But their efforts have not yet borne fruit.

"This year will be the 65th anniversary of the annihilation of the Minsk ghetto. The Belarusian Holocaust day could be established on 21-23 October, when the ghetto was annihilated," said Levin.

Approximately 800 thousand Jews perished in Belarus during World War II.

"Officials tell us that there is no need for a national day of memory, because there are several international Holocaust days. But we are sure that a special day in Belarus is necessary, because the tragedy of the Belarusian Jews was really great," Levin said.

Levin said that the establishment of a Belarusian day of memory would help to provide people with more information about the Holocaust in the country.

"We need a national Holocaust day because people in Belarus and other countries don't know much about the tragedy that happened here," Levin told JTA.

Source:

http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/breaking/108123.html

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