The tragedy of the Jewish people in the history of the twentieth century

The 27th of January is World Holocaust Remembrance Day. It was on this day in 1945 that the Red Army liberated prisoners from one of the largest Nazi concentration camps, Auschwitz-Birkenau, known as Auschwitz. Mourning events dedicated to this date were held at the Jewish cemetery in Bendery on January 26. It was attended by the President of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic Vadim Krasnoselsky, Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic Alexander Korshunov, Chairman of the Government of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic Alexander Rosenberg, Vice-Speaker of Parliament Galina Antyufeyeva.

The Jewish cemetery in Bendery is more than 100 years old. A large memorial was opened on its territory for Holocaust Remembrance Day in January 2022. About 200 names of those who died in the Great Patriotic War on the fronts and were shot by the Nazi SS troops during the occupation are carved on granite slabs.

Pridnestrovie has its own sad statistics. From 1.5 to 3 thousand Jews were killed in Tiraspol during the years of occupation according to some estimates. 1300 people died in Rybnitsa, where the Jewish ghetto operated, about 500 people in Kamenka, 18 thousand people in Dubossary. From 90 to 300 thousand Jews died in total, on the territory of Pridnestrovie during the Great Patriotic War, according to various estimates by historians.

The memory of all known and anonymous victims of the Holocaust was observed with a minute of silence.

Emilia Karasik comes to the cemetery in Bendery every year. A few tens of meters from the memorial plaques there is another one that is important for her. Her parents, Olga and Mikhail Khusidman, are buried there. Emilia’s mother Olga Abramovna ended up in the Vradievka concentration camp at the age of 6. Two daughters of their large family survived in the 40s.

Emilia Mikhailovna’s mother went to the place in the Nikolaev region in the late 80s where the Vradievka concentration camp was. There is a hospital on this site now.

They said at the memorial at the Jewish cemetery in Bendery that the tragedy of the Jewish people began even before the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. It is known that in the 30-40s of the 20th century, about 6 million Jews died in Europe and the Soviet Union.

Funeral events continued at the walls of the Bendery fortress, where about 700 Jews were shot during the occupation of the city by the Nazis. They said that history should not be forgotten. This is the only way to prevent future generations from making mistakes that could again lead to tragedy.