MOSCOW, November 8. / TASS /. Five new Holocaust monuments will be unveiled in the Russian regions during the week of November 11, press service of the Russian Jewish Congress (REC) reported on Friday.
"In Russia, five monuments to the victims of the Holocaust will be unveiled for five consecutive days from November 11 to 15. The monuments will be erected as part of the Restore Dignity memorial program. All the monuments will appear at the places of mass executions carried out by the Nazis during the occupation. Most of the executed — old men, women, children — were peaceful Soviet citizens of Jewish descent, doomed to destruction only because of their nationality. The Russian Jewish Congress obtained the permission to open granite obelisks with the Star of David and plates with the names of the dead in these places from local administrations, "the report said.
On Monday, November 11, a monument will be unveiled in the village of Divnoye, Stavropol Region, where in September 1942 the Nazis executed 660 people.
On November 12, a monument and slabs will appear with the names of those who died in Grigoropolisskaya village, Stavropol Region; on November 13, the monument will be unveiled in the village of Podgornaya also in the Stavropol Region.
On Thursday, the monument will be opened with the names of the victims of the Velizh ghetto in the city of Velizh in the Smolensk Region, where the remains of more than 3,000 people lie.
On Friday, November 15, a monument and slabs with the names of the dead will be opened in the village of Soldato-Aleksandrovskoye (Stavropol Region) at the place of execution of 270 people, most of whom were Jews.
"Every year, the Restore Dignity program expands its geography, receiving support from local authorities in Russian regions, while among its participants and activists there are more and more people of various nationalities. The project is being implemented with private donations, and anyone can take part in it by listing donation to the Russian Jewish Congress," the press service said.
The main participants in the program — the Russian Jewish Congress, the Holocaust Center and the Eben-Ezer Foundation for Evangelical Christians — over the ten years of the project’s existence opened 70 monuments and memorial signs to Holocaust victims.