Remembrance and Grief Lesson «The Holocaust: Memory of Generations»

On January 27, the UN General Assembly established a commemorative date – International Holocaust Remembrance Day. It was on this day, January 27, that Soviet troops liberated Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi concentration camp, in 1945.

As part of the Patriot Club, a remembrance and grief lesson, «The Holocaust: Memory of Generations», was held for 8th-grade students of Secondary School No.2 in Zhlobin at the Zhlobin Central District Library No.2.

Irina Eliseeva, an archivist at the Zhlobin Zonal State Archive, was invited to the event. Irina Nikolaevna devoted special attention to the tragedies that occurred in the territory of modern-day Belarus, particularly the mass execution of Jews living in the city of Zhlobin and the Zhlobin district during the Great Patriotic War.

The history of the Holocaust here is not about abstract figures, but about personal destinies, vanished streets, and the silence that replaced the once-vociferous Jewish community, forever leaving a tragic mark on the city’s history.

An archival employee provided original documents on the Zhlobin district, «List of Citizens Executed and Deported to Germany in 1941-1945».

Irina Nikolaevna read from one of the archival documents, «Report on the Interview of Eyewitnesses to the Execution of Jews in the City of Zhlobin».

Books became silent but eloquent witnesses to that era. Librarian Alla Dashkevich gave a detailed presentation of the thematic exhibition «Dedicated to the Victims of the Holocaust…», where the documentary truth of chronicles met with the poignant power of artistic expression.

The children learned the meaning of the word «Holocaust», the genocide of Jews during World War II, and the Nazi atrocities in the territories they occupied. They learned the difference between a death camp and a concentration camp.

Against the backdrop of the musical «Jewish Prayer», the participants lit a candle in memory of all the victims of the Holocaust.

After all, those who do not remember their past are doomed to relive it!

1. Lesson in Remembrance and Grief «The Holocaust—Memory of Generations»

2. Archival Documents Exhibition

3. Irina Eliseeva presents archival documents telling the story of the tragedy

4. Irina Eliseeva’s speech to the children