Thursday, September 30, 2021, • 6:00-7:30 pm.
While more than 2.5 million of the Shoah’s victims were Soviet Jews, many of the stories of the victims and survivors of the Holocaust on the Nazi-occupied territory of the former Soviet Union have never been heard. In our own Chicago community, virtually every Russian Jewish family has a connection to these losses and a story to tell.
Join CJE SeniorLife Holocaust Community Services, Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, and community members, as we commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Babiy Yar massacre and the opening of the Museum’s multi-gallery Holocaust in the Soviet Union core exhibition update.
This powerful commemoration and opening will include a keynote presentation by Professor Zvi Gitelman, Professor Emeritus of Political Science and Preston Tisch Professor Emeritus of Judaic Studies at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), Author of Bitter Legacy: Confronting the Holocaust in the Soviet Union, and Project Scholar for the Museum’s exhibition project; music from the Grammy-nominated Yiddish Glory project, with remarks by Professor Anna Shternshis, Al and Malka Green Professor of Yiddish Studies, University of Toronto; remarks by Holocaust Community Services and Illinois Holocaust Museum; and a candle-lighting ceremony.
On-Site Location:
Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center
9603 Woods Drive
Skokie, IL 60077
(Virtual Viewing Option Will be Available)
Docent-Led tours of new Holocaust in the Soviet Union galleries available from 4:00 – 5:30 pm.
The program will be conducted in English with simultaneous Russian translation available for on-site and virtual audiences.
A link will be sent to individuals who opt for the virtual program option, 24 hours before the commemoration.
Co-sponsored by CJE SeniorLife Holocaust Community Services, Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, and the Peter Polsky Freedom Fund. Program funders include the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, private foundations, and individual donors.
Augmentations to the Holocaust in the Soviet Union Galleries are made possible through the generous support of: Tanya and Michael Polsky, The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, Julie Bashkin and Matt Brody