DNIEPR – The largest Holocaust Museum in Ukraine and one of the largest in the world is situated in Dniepr – 2,000 square kilometers, 3 stories, 4 halls. Exclusive display items including: 18 century Torah scroll, prayer books and personal belongings of Ghetto captives, kids’ toys.
Before the 2nd World War Ukraine’s Jewish community was one of the most numerous in Europe. About 100,000 Jews were living in Dniepr before the Holocaust events.
The city witnessed the onslaught of shootings right after the tragedy in Kiev’s Babi Yar. There are several locations where the mass extermination took place but the most notorious one is the Botanical Garden.
The warnings appeared everywhere saying that Jews were to come to certain streets. People had been led to the Botanical Garden in columns where in the beginning of October, 1942 by various estimates 12- 15,000 people were massacred.
The main massage of the Museum’s mere existence is that pain doesn’t have a race or nationality. That’s why Holocaust is not the only thing the exhibits are devoted to.
History and culture of Ukrainian Jews are presented here as well. There are separate halls about Holodomor, the genocide history of Arminian and Gypsy people, and also deportation of Crimean-Tatars.
When Ukrainians, Russians, Polish and the rest view the Holocaust tragedy as their own and the Jewish people understand the pain of Holodomor and Tatars’ deportation – then we come to realize the role of history in peoples’ fates and that it not only influences the present, but also determines both the present and the future.
The museum is very modern: it has various installations, multimedia zones with audio and video materials.
The Jewish memory and Holocaust in Ukraine Museum was built in 2012 with the financial assistance of Jewish businessmen. It is situated in the “Menorah” Jewish cultural center.
More than 25,000 people, including foreign guests, visit the Museum every year. Since this history should not only be remembered but thoroughly studied as well.
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Sources: Global News Alliance, The Largest Holocaust Museum in Ukraine