Jewish Holocaust Commemoration in the USSR in Yad Vashem Studies, Volume XXX

Jewish Holocaust Commemoration Activity in the USSR Under Stalin

Part of the intensive Holocaust commemoration efforts by Jews in the former USSR have come to light since archives in that country began to open. Many Jews who returned to their homes in the USSR after the war felt it a privilege and an obligation to commemorate their loved ones. The desire to commemorate unified the Jewish community. Commemoration initiatives were grassroots, without the involvement of the authorities, and often in the face of their opposition. The initiatives were varied: memorial ceremonies at murder sites, or traditional memorial ceremonies in synagogues; raising monuments; and publishing memorial books and survivor testimonies. Commemoration activity continued even in 1948-1953, when government antisemitism reached a peak.