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THE PROJECT “NAMES…” IS BEING HELD
“Every nation has its own history – the
history of joy and grief. There exist Jewish, Ukrainian, Russian tradition – to
commemorate perished, to remember all namely, because every person has own name…”
With such words Dr. Igor Shchupak, Tkuma
Center director has opened the Ceremony of Awarding participants and volunteers
of the Project “Names…”. The project has been carrying out over the year by
Tkuma All-Ukrainian Center for Holocaust Studies (“Renascence”) jointly with Yad
Vashem National Institute of Catastrophe and Heroism Remembrance (Israel). The Ceremony
has been conducted on June 8th in Dnepropetrovsk Community Center
library. The volunteers have been awarded by the diplomas by the honored Yad
Vashem guests: Yad Vashem Chairman Nathan Eitan, the major sponsor of Project
“Names...”, Yossie Hollonder, the Project “Names...” Coordinator Boris Maftsir, and
Dr. Aharon Weiss, Tkuma Center Academic Adviser “spiritual coordinator”. The
Chief Rabbi of Dnepropetrovsk Region Shmuel Kaminetskiy has also participated.
Boris
Maftsir has expressed gratitude to all, who actively participated in names collecting
project. “For us it is of great importance to come and express you our high
appreciation” – said Boris Maftsir.
“I’ve
arrived form Israel to look at your eyes, to shake hand each of you and to say
great thanks. I would like us to be sure that we are doing everything for the
welfare of future generations. Yad Vashem is worried about one question – how
people to remember the tragedy horrors after many years. I really hope that
tragedy remembrance will become to the system of traditions, which we are to
honor in the frames of our Jewish calendar” said Nathan Eitan.
“We are
collecting names all over the world, but Ukraine is a special place for me. My
mother was born in Ternopol Region, many my relatives have gone during the Holocaust
atrocities and what we are doing here is of a great significance for me. I know
that the names collecting process is essential and painful, that’s why we are
carrying out this project and comprehend that it makes us to feel a bit better.
It is our debt of honor.” – marked Yossie Hollonder
Igor
Shchupak has emphasized that we are doing tremendous work – searching the names
and reconstructing the list of the perished during the abysmal Holocaust
tragedy. On behalf of the Project “Names…” Coordinators he expressed gratitude
to all who participated in the names collecting procedure and contributed to
historical remembrance preservation, i.e. volunteers, veterans, Hesed and Community Center activists as well as
Tkuma Center volunteers.
By the
honor diplomas on behalf of Yad Vashem National Institute of Catastrophe and Heroism
Remembrance have been awarded the active participants of names collection: Dora
Teplitskaya (Hesed volunteer, Dnepropetrovsk), who carried out the tremendous
work on names collecting in former Stalindorf Jewish national district and
gathered over 100 names. Klavdiya Meshkova (teacher, Krasino village, Krivoy
Rog District of Dnepropetrovsk Region) owing to her efforts the unique museum
has been established in Krasino school and students know and comprehend all the
pains of Jewish nation, caused by the Catastrophe times. Mikhail Makarovskiy (journalist,
Dnepropetrovsk), who renders the assistance in supplying the Tkuma Holocaust Museum
collection, enrichment the museum, Saveliy Bass (Dnepropetrovsk City Committee
of WWII Jews veterans and operations’ participants), due to his initiative 4
volumes of the Remembrance Book of Dnepropetrovsk have been compiled and
prepared for publication, Mark Gorlovskiy, (Hesed volunteer, Krivoy Rog), who
conducts exploring activity on searching the names of exterminated Jews in
Krivoy Rog and succeeded to discover over 100 names, Tatyana Zagot (former
resident of Novozlatopol village, Dnepropetrovsk), who managed to make up the
list of perished Jews at total of over 900 names, Mira Savchenko (teacher,
Novozlatopol village of Gulyaipolskiy district, Zaporozhye Region), who
organizes the work regarding Holocaust history studying at school, she also has
created the multimedia project “Novozlatopol 1941–1943: pain and tragedy”,
Ludmila Shapkina (Hesed Director, Donetsk, who has handed in more than 800 names
during project realization. The diplomas have also been given to Liliya
Borodovskaya (Hesed volunteer, Krivoy Rog) and Olga Silchenkova (Hesed Regional
Programs’ Coordinator, Zaporozhye) who managed to come to the Awarding
Ceremony.
Elena
Kolpakova, Project “Names…” Coordinator (Tkuma Center) showed gratitude to all
the project participants. “Thank you all of you, who participate in this
project and assist us. The contribution you make is priceless and can not be
compared with anything. That is the most wonderful thing that may be.”
Tkuma Center
has handed in more than 600 forms to Yad Vashem guests, and after this memory
of those who are not with us has been honored by the silence minute.
At the end
Boris Maftsir expressed tremendous gratitude to Tkuma Center specialists on
behalf of Yossie Hollonder and Nathan Eitan and awarded Dr. Igor Shchupak, Tkuma
Center Director and Svetlana Gerus, Tkuma Educational Programs Coordinator by
the honored diplomas.
Artem
Eremenko,
Literary Editor,
“Vestnik Tkuma” Newspaper
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