Photo Dr. Rachel Levi Drummer, Academic Secretary of Bar-Ilan University
Holocaust Memorial Day 2023 at Bar Ilan University with the Opening of the "Memory from Bitola 2019 Exhibition"
The “Memories from Bitola 2019” exhibition opened on January 26th at the library of Bar Ilan University. The exhibition contains 30 pictures taken in 2019 as part of a series of events to commemorate the Jews of Macedonia. A committee chose 30 pictures from among thousands of photos submitted. These pictures capture many commemorative events including the march of the living, visits of delegations to the old jewish cemetery, delegations of people with disabilities, group songs and many more.
This exhibition is yet another tool in a variety of events and activities that were created in cooperation led by the Israeli foreign ministry and Bar Ilan University in partnership with numerous organizations to tell the story of the 7,144 jews of macedonia that were murdered in Treblinka.
Ambassador Dan Oryan, head of the Balkan Department at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, initiated the exhibition. The curator is Shlomi Amsalem, a stills and video photographer who works with government offices and leading organizations, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Prime Minister’s Bureau and the Government Press Office. Dr Olga Goldin, Director of the Libraries and Information System at Bar Ilan University introduced the exhibition to the audience. The work at the university was done in cooperation with Liat Gonen and Naomi Avraham.
At the opening ceremony, Dr. Rachel Levi Drummer, Academic Secretary of Bar-Ilan University, spoke about her family's fate and about the projects she was part of in an effort to tell the story of her family and the entire Jewish community of Macedonia. Dr Joel Rappel from the Elie Wiesel Center gave a speech emphasizing the special contribution of the cleaning of cemeteries to the knowledge about the past of the Jews. and highlighted the passion of Dr. Drummer leading to such amazing results. The speakers also included the curator Amsalem and Michal Moskovich from Bar Ilan University.
Ambassador Oryan shared some thoughts about the importance of telling the story of small communities and emphasized how he formed a coalition of support for this matter. The exhibition was first exhibited in the foreign ministry of Israel in 2019 and since then a digital version was presented at the Holon Institute of Technology (HIT). The exhibition was presented in both the capital of Macedonia, Skopje, and in Bitola in 2019. Ambassador Oryan said in his speech that he hopes people will use the opportunity and join the march of the living this year as we commemorate 80 years from the 11th of March 1943 when the Jews of Macedonia were gathered and sent to their death.
Diplomacy.co.il congratulate such an important initiative
Photos Silvia Golan More Pics at Facebook Diplomacy Israel and Israel Diplo / Silvia G Golan
