November 10, 2017
According to official figures, there are about 2.5 thousand people in Ukraine, who have the honorary title of the Righteous Among the Nations, which they were awarded by the State of Israel in gratitude for rescuing the Jewish people during the Second World War. We are the second country after Poland by the number of heroes, and the work of Svetlana Levitas and Margaretha Ormotsadze, will tell about the people who saved others, risking their own lives.
The Nazi invaders executed all those who helped the Jews during the Holocaust. In the times of the USSR, information about such people was silenced, any public statement about them was impossible. And only today, during the independence of Ukraine, the Righteous are able to tell their incredible, sincere, touching and fearless stories. The courage of these people, who managed to find strength during the war to save not only themselves but also others, should be documented.
“The feat of each of the Righteous is no less valuable than the feat accomplished at the front. These people fought with the enemy one on one realizing that salvation put their lives under threat of death. But after the horrors of the war, they were forced to exist in the anti-Semitic environment of the USSR, where their brave deeds were preferred to be forgotten for many years. Therefore, in today’s Ukraine it is very important to talk about the Righteous, their merciful souls, their families and courage. For the older generations, righteousness was a closed topic, and almost nothing is known about it among the new generation. Therefore, such work will eliminate another gap in history and improve Ukraine’s image in the international arena,” said Felix Levitas, historical consultant for the film “Word of the Righteous”.
“The Word of the Righteous Project is intended to remind society about the outstanding people whose noble deeds were unjustly forgotten. The authorities were reluctant to mention them, but the trace they left in history and in the lives of individual families is immense. This project seeks to restore their forgotten stories, as well as to tell about heroism and the horrors of war. And our Center has the same mission“, commented Yana Barinova, COO of the Babi Yar Holocaust Memorial Center.
“The easiest way to communicate information is from heart to heart. We are shooting a film about the People with great, sincere hearts, who during the darkest times became bright examples worthy of memory and recognition. I ask all those who are not indifferent to support the project ” Word of the Righteous”. This is more than just a movie. It is aimed at ensuring that no man or race are ever convicted on an ethnic basis“, explained Margarita Ormotsadze, the producer of the film.
“The Word of the Righteous” is the direct speech of the Righteous Among the Nations from Ukraine. Personal stories told by them will disarm anyone who will try to deny the Holocaust. These are the stories of pain and horror, but above all about courage and love for the neighbor. Now the Righteous are at a very respectable age, many have already gone to the eternity, and we hurry to record as many interviews as possible. The feat of the Righteous Among the Nations is a very important part of the history of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Jewry, which must be preserved“, considers Svitlana Levitas, author of the idea.
The project involves three stages: a documentary film, a book of interviews with the Righteous Among the Nations and a photo exhibition with archival photos. The heroes’ stories from Kiev, Odessa, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Lviv, as well as from Belarus and Lithuania will be represented to the visitors.
Information
The general partner of the project
The Babi Yar Holocaust Memorial Center (BYHMC)
The Babi Yar Holocaust Memorial Center, BYHMC, is a nonprofit educational institution that documents and commemorates the Holocaust, in particular the Babi Yar mass shootings of September 1941. By following this educative mission based on scientific coming to terms with the past the Center contributes to more resilient and democratic societies and a peaceful living-together of future generations.
The target date set for the opening of the Memorial Center is 2021, and will coincide with the 80th anniversary of the Babi Yar massacre.
The Supervisory Board of the Babi Yar Holocaust Memorial Center represents an unprecedented collaboration of the public and private sector and is led by the strong leadership of Mayor Vitali Klitschko. The members of the Supervisory Board are: Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich, Chief Rabbi of Kiev and Ukraine; Joschka Fischer, Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor of Germany (1998 – 2005); Mikhail Fridman, Co-Founder and Chairman, Alfa-Group Consortium, LetterOne investment holding, Co-Founder Russian Jewish Congress and Genesis Philanthropy Group; Pavel Fuks, Chairman, Babi Yar Memorial Foundation, private investor; German Khan, deputy Chairman of the BYHMC Supervisory Board, Co-Founder and a Member of the Supervisory Board, Alfa Group Consortium , LetterOne investment holding, Co-Founder and a Member of the Supervisory Board, the Russian Jewish Congress and Genesis Philanthropy Group; Volodymyr Klitschko, world heavyweight boxing champion, philanthropist and public figure; Aleksander Kwasniewski, President of Poland (1995-2005); Joe Lieberman, U.S. Senator Connecticut (1989 – 2003); Victor Pinchuk, Ukrainian businessman and philanthropist, Founder, EastOne Group and the Victor Pinchuk Foundation; Natan Sharansky, Chairman of the BYHMC Supervisory Board, Chairman of the Executive Board of the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI); Svyatoslav Vakarchuk, artist, founder of the most successful Ukrainian rock band “Okean Elzy”, civic activist and opinion leader, Yale World Fellows 2015 Alumnae.
Partners:
Genesis Philanthropy Group
Genesis Philanthropy Group’s mission is to develop and enhance a sense of Jewish identity among Russian-speaking Jews worldwide. We are committed to supporting and launching projects, programming, and institutions that are focused on ensuring that Jewish culture, heritage, and values are preserved in Russians-speaking Jewish communities across the globe. We believe that informed and engaged Russian-speaking Jews will contribute to the cultural enrichment of their communities, strengthen the Jewish community and support the betterment of humanity.
Our work is inspired by the Jewish values and traditions that have sustained the Jewish people and advanced human civilization for millennia. GPG believes that the positive contribution of the Jewish community to the history of mankind is not limited to the distant past. Adhering to Jewish values and taking great pride in the achievements of the Jewish people, we are confident that the development and strengthening of Jewish identity will be one of the foundations to ensuring the continuity, unity and diversity of world cultures. As we move into the 21st century, we envision a pluralistic Jewish identity – a source of exciting possibilities for a diverse Jewry and for continuing the task of perfecting the world. Jewish identity and continuity has suffered dramatic lapses in the Russian-speaking communities of the former Soviet Union. The legacy of a totalitarian past has left vast numbers of Russian-speaking Jews profoundly disengaged from their Jewish heritage. GPG recognizes that the past is giving way to a new, proud generation of Russian-speaking Jews, a generation that looks to restore its Jewish identity, celebrate its diversity and renew its spirit. Genesis values a universal pluralistic vision of the global Jewish community and seeks to engage Russian-speaking Jews in Jewish tradition, culture and values to the benefit of their communities, and to the benefit of the entire Jewish people.
The Ukrainian Center for Holocaust Studies (UCHS) was established in 2002. It is a non-governmental organization founded in partnership with I. Kuras Institute for Political and Ethnic Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. The main directions of the UCHS’s activities embrace Holocaust research and Holocaust education.
The research direction comprises regional aspects of the Holocaust on Ukrainian lands; reflection of the Holocaust in the mass-media of the Nazi-occupied Ukraine; Nazi ideology and the mechanisms of its implementation, anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial, comparative research of the Holocaust and other cases of genocide. The UCHS holds scholarly conferences and seminars on these issues.
In frames of the educational activities the UCHS consults Holocaust history teachers of secondary schools and higher educational establishments, promotes the creation of curricula and manuals on the Holocaust, organizes annual competitions of students’ research and art works.
Alongside with the main working directions the UCHS is actively involved into publishing and has its own periodical editions: semi-annual scholarly journal “Holocaust and Modernity” and bi-monthly informative-pedagogical bulletin “Lessons of the Holocaust”.
The UCHS also participates in international projects in alliance with academic and educational institutions all over the world.
JSB “UKRGASBANK”
JSB “UKRGASBANK” is a universal bank with a focus on green finance.
UKRGASBANK is among the top-5 Ukrainian banks by assets. 95% of the Bank’s share capital belongs to the State of Ukraine represented by the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine.
Established in 1993, over more than 23 years of its operation the Bank has gained the loyalty of thousands of retail and corporate customers. UKRGASBANK services around 900 thousand individuals, and over 46 thousand corporate and SME customers. The Bank operates 229 offices in over 152 cities and towns throughout Ukraine.
Today UKRGASBANK is a dynamic financial institution providing both traditional and unique innovative products and services. The bank actively participates in the development of the Ukrainian economy and financial system.
“UKRNET”
was established in 1998. Today “UKRNET” is a producer of popular services for Ukrainian Internet users. Among them, the national Internet portal UKR.NET is the most popular Internet news service in Ukraine. Every day about thirty thousand publications from more than 1,500 sources from all over Ukraine arrive in the portal’s tape. These are popular and authoritative news sites, international and Ukrainian news agencies, online versions of the media, regional online resources. The news is collected every minute and placed in the relevant subject headings “Politics”, “Economy”, “Incidents”, “Society”, “Technologies”, “Science”, “Auto”, “Sport”, “Health”, “Show Business”, “Abroad”, “Curiosities”, “Photo Report”, “Video”, news of each region of Ukraine.
The advantage of the news service UKR.NET is the availability of a regional tape. It receives news not only regional, but also national and global sources, which are relevant to the events in the region.