First monument to Holocaust victims is unveiled in Ufa

The first monument to the Holocaust victims and the soldiers who died during the Great Patriotic War appeared in Ufa.

It is installed at the Jewish National Cultural Center. The monumental composition 3.5 meters high is made in the form of three stone columns with broken menora. The author of the composition is a St. Petersburg artist Alexander Pozin.

The memorial was built on the initiative and at the expense of the Jewish community of Bashkortostan. The Head of Bashkortostan Radiy Khabirov, the chief rabbi of Ufa and RB Dan Krichevsky, the spiritual leaders of traditional denominations - the chairman of the Central Spiritual Governance for Muslims, the Supreme Mufti of Russia Talgat Tajuddin and the head of the Bashkortostan Metropolitanate of the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Metropolitan of Ufa and Sterlitamak Nikon, attended the unveiling ceremony.

“One of the worst crimes against humanity will never know oblivion, nor lapse of time,” said Radiy Khabirov at the opening. “Bashkortostan people are proud of the feat of our fellow countryman, a native of the Blagoveshchensk district, Nikolay Kiselyov, who rescued more than 200 Jewish residents from the enemy-occupied Belarusian village, mostly old people, women, and children. The Jewish community of Bashkortostan carefully preserves historical memory. Good deeds strengthen peace and harmony in our republic. We will continue to keep the memory of each of the millions slain by the Nazis, protect peace in our big community.”