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Ceremony in Minsk marks International Holocaust Remembrance Day

A ceremony marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day was held in Minsk on January 27.

The event had been organized by the UN Office in Belarus and the National Holocaust Foundation.

Leanid Levin, a prominent architect who chairs the Union of Belarusian Jewish Public Associations and Communities, said that the Day was instituted by the United Nations in 2005. "In Belarus almost 2.5 million people died in World War II, including 800,000 Jews," he said.

"The people has memories of that, we remember the victims, mark these sad days, participate in conferences on Holocaust. It concerned not only Jews, it could affect other peoples as well. We remember the people who survived the atrocities of Nazis, do our utmost to revive the lost history, culture, language as they tried to destroy not just the people but its cultural heritage."

Antonius Broek, UN resident coordinator/UNDP resident representative, and Nazi death camp survivor Leanid Rubinshteyn lit candles at the ceremony to pay tribute to the six million Jews slain by Nazis in Europe. //BelaPAN