Mariupol Jews Memorialize Holocaust’s Victims

Jewish community members in Mariupol, Ukraine, gathered at the site near the village of Agrobazza where upwards of 20,000 Jews were murdered by Nazi forces 70 years ago for an annual ceremony to memorialize and honor the victims.

E. Kamarali, a representative of the Mariupol City Council, opened the memorial service beside a memorial built atop the victims’ mass grave. The service included a prayer by Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Menachem Mendel Cohen, the city’s chief rabbi, and the lighting of a memorial candle by community member Yuriy Hodos.

Students of the Ohr Avner Chabad Evening School prepared a literary and musical presentation for the occasion, and a local Holocaust survivor, Elvira Bortz, shared her recollections of those days.