Representatives of Jewish organizations and officials of the government of Belarus met last week to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Nazi liquidation of the Jewish ghetto of Minsk.
Pyotr Kravchanka, the foreign minister of Belarus, formerly known as Byelorussia, served as host for a series of government-sponsored ceremonies that included the unveiling of a memorial to the Jewish victims of the Nazis at the site of the Minsk ghetto.
Commemorative events also included a Jewish book fair and film festival, as well as an exhibition dedicated to Jewish victims of the Nazis at the Minsk Museum of History.
Rabbi Arthur Schneier of Park East Synagogue in Manhattan, a Holocaust survivor who is president of the Appeal of Conscience Foundation, flew to Belarus last week at Kravchanka’s invitation to speak at official ceremonies commemorating the mass killings at the Minsk ghetto.
Government and Jewish officials attended.
All the participants wore the same yellow badges the Jews had to wear during the Nazi persecutions.
The ceremonies were led by former partisans who fought the Nazis.
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