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Exhibition devoted to prominent Belarusian-born Israeli figures opened in Minsk

An exhibition titled, “Under the Badge of Menorah. From the History of Jewry in Belarus,” was opened in the National History Museum in Minsk on August 9 on the occasion of the 90th birth of incumbent Israeli President Shimon Perese and the 100th birth anniversary of former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin (1913-1992).

The exhibition displays photographs specially brought from Israel, which depict the biographies of the prominent Belarusian-born Israeli statesmen. Also on display are authentic Jewish everyday life objects from the collection of the National History Museum and the Museum of the History and Culture of Jews in Belarus, which are expected to help visitors feel the atmosphere of a stetl, a typical small town with a large Jewish population in pre-Holocaust Central and Eastern Europe.

“This exhibition is interesting because it can show how Jewish people lived within the Pale of Settlement in Belarus,” Gennady Polishchuk, first secretary of the Israeli embassy in Minsk, said during the opening ceremony. “Here we can see ties between our nations with our own eyes. It is pleasant to realize here in Belarus that this land gave us outstanding figures such as Shimon Peres and Menachem Begin. There are many other Belarusian-born people who made a great contribution to the development of Israel.”

“There are few Jews still living in Belarus – about 50,000 – but there were times when the Belarusian Jews were the largest Jewish community in Europe,” said Leanid Levin, chairman of the Union of Belarusian Jewish Public Associations and Communities. “Seven outstanding Israeli figures originated from Belarus. Apart from politicians, our land gave the world great Jews such as [Marc] Chagall, [Chaim] Soutine, [Zair] Azgur and others. And all of them lived and worked under the badge of Menorah.” //BelaPAN