About a commemorative Belarusian-American event on the occasion of the destruction of the Minsk ghetto
29.05.2019On the initiative of the Permanent Mission of Belarus to the United Nations in New York, a joint Belarusian-American memorial event was held on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the destruction of the Minsk ghetto and on the eve of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Belarus from the Nazi invaders.
The event was attended by US Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combatting Anti-Semitism Elan Carr, who during his speech highly appreciated the importance of this event in preserving the memory of the Holocaust, and also stressed the need to involve the younger generation in the fight against anti-Semitism. He mentioned in this context his participation in the march from the former concentration camp in Auschwitz to the Birkinau concentration camp with the participation of young people and a number of ambassadors of foreign states. He noted with appreciation the Belarusian-American event, which took place on May 1 this year at the US State Department on the Holocaust Remembrance Day.
During the event, Acting U.S. Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Jonathan R. Cohen, presented the United States commemorative medals signed by U.S. President Donald Trump and Chairman of the
U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America ‘s Heritage Abroad Paul Packer. Medals are dedicated to the survived prisoners of the Minsk ghetto.
The majority part these medals was presented to participants of the commemorative events on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the destruction of the Minsk ghetto, held in Minsk in October 2018.
Permanent Representative of Belarus to the UN Valentin Rybakov told about the history of the Minsk ghetto and the efforts of Belarus to preserve the memory of the Great Patriotic War in Belarus, including victims of the Holocaust. He noted the recognition by Israel of the contribution of the Belarusian people to the salvation of the Jews during the war by awarding with the title “Righteous Among the Nations”.
The event was also attended by Charge d'Affaires of Belarus to the U.S. Pavel Shidlovsky, heads of missions of the United Nations Member States involved in World War II, representatives of international Jewish and American organizations, students of several American educational institutions, representatives of the Belarusian diaspora.
