The Holocaust Museum in Odessa

Museum of the Holocaust – victims of fascism, Odessa (Музей "Холокоста – жертв фашизма", Одесса) – the first Museum in Ukraine, which is based on the events of the genocide of the Jewish population in Transnistria Governorate (the territories which were from 1941 to 1943 under jurisdiction of Romania and occupied Odessa, Nikolaev and part of Vinnytsia areas).[1]

History

In 1995, the idea arose to create a museum of the Holocaust in Odessa. It was proposed by two former prisoners of the ghetto and concentration camps: President of the Association "Ukraine-Israel", former prisoner of the concentration camp in Domanyovka Dmitry Gutakhov[2] and former prisoner of fascism, Nilva Efim.[3]

14 years later, by the decision of the Council of Odessa regional Association of Jews—former prisoners of ghettos and nazi concentration camps[4] (Chairman of the Association – Shvartsman Roman Markovich),[5] 22 June 2009 the official opening of the Holocaust Museum in Odessa.[6][7]

On the opening day of the Museum the head of the society "Ukraine – Israel" Dmitry Gutakhov, in his speech noted:[8]

"Holocaust Museum in Odessa is an important milestone on the way of memory"

The opening date of the Museum is symbolic. Precisely in this day, 22 June 1941 Nazi Germany attacked Soviet Union. Blitzkrieg on the eastern front was not only about instant military victory, it was also (if not mostly) about genocide and war crimes. Nazi Germany wanted to kill or enslave all of the Soviet Union's population, just like they were (trying) to do in Poland since 1 September 1939. Terrible war crimes were committed by both the SS groups just like the Wehrmacht. All Slavic,Roma, Jewish (hated the most by Nazis) and other people were considered by brainwashed Germans as subhumans, hence they didn't deserve no rights and dignity. Those who couldn't work for their "masters" from "master Aryan race" (Germans) and become their slaves were supposed to be exterminated. [9][10]

By decision of the Council of the Odessa Regional Association of Jews-former prisoners of the ghetto and nazi concentration camps, Sabulis Victor Franzevich was appointed the first director of the museum.[11]

On the eve of the opening of the museum Roman Markovich Shvartsman said:[12]

"We have long dreamed of creating such a museum, collecting everything that speaks about that time"

Exhibits and Exposition

Initially in two halls of the museum about one and a half thousand exhibits were exposed: photos, documents, tablets and exhibits – witnesses of that time, a kind part from which is taken from private collections of the Odessa Jews brought by former prisoners.[13]

A significant part of the exposition was transferred to the museum from Chicago (USA), now the late native of Odessa, former prisoner of the ghetto Lev Dumer.[14]

All exhibits are genuine, dedicated to Odessa citizens – former prisoners of concentration camps and ghettos, 400 of whom were lucky enough to survive the nightmares of the Holocaust and live to this day. These are graphic images, photographs, and relics, and photo documents about the horrors experienced during the Second World War by Jewish residents of Odessa and the region. Particularly painful impression the rope with which the nazis were hanged young girl. It was given to the museum by a man who, at that time, a boy, was in love with that girl…[15]

Today, the Holocaust Museum is a two-storey complex, which houses a research library, a training center and a memorial space.

Exhibits

Initially, the exhibition gives an overview of the Holocaust, and then focuses on the fate of the Jews of Odessa and Pridnestrovie. In addition to the permanent exhibition, the museum offers audio and video interviews, a library and a memorial room.

The permanent exhibition covers five halls of the Museum.

• Hall of the library, which presents literature related to the history of the Holocaust, historical documents, artifacts , historical and personal photos, oral and video history, personal belongings of former prisoners of concentration camps and ghettos.
• Hall, which presents the history of the occupation of the fascists in Europe, and after the Odessa region. Here is a video card of the Transnistria, where death camps, labor camps and ghettos are marked.
• Hall, which tells the story of the typical life of the pre-war Jewish family in Shtetl, so used to be called small town.
• Hall of the Righteous Among the Nations. Here are photos, awards, personal belongings of the Righteous of the peoples of the world of Odessa region.
• Hall of Victory. Here are pictures of military officers, sailors, heroes of the USSR, who participated in the liberation of the Odessa region from the nazi invaders, during the Second world war.

Exposition

The Museum also presents traveling exhibitions, where you can see Romanian,[16] Roma, Bulgarian Jews, former prisoners of ghettos and concentration camps.

By the 75th anniversary of the occupation of Odessa during the second world war, the Holocaust museum presented the exhibition "Documents of the Romanian occupation of Odessa 1941–1944 from the state archives of Odessa region".[17]

In January 2012, the international day of commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust saw the opening of an exhibition of photographs entitled "Holocaust in granite". The photographs presented unfailingly reveal the tragedy of the Holocaust. The exhibition is devoted to the tragic fate of the Jews of Odessa, Bessarabia and Bukovina, destroyed by the Romanian occupiers in 1941–1944 on the territory between the Southern Bug and the Dniester. Photos, which formed the basis of the exhibition, were taken from expeditions carried out in the period from 2011 to 2012. The expeditions are part of a major long-term project launched by the Odessa Holocaust Museum.[18]

In 2017 mini-diorama "Ghetto in Transnistria"appeared in the museum's collection. Diorama depicts a Jewish ghetto in the Odessa settlement, which was established by the occupiers in 1942. In it almost 90 figures, the size of which is 35 times less than human growth. The author of this project was the Odessa master-modeler Evgeniy Kapuka.[19][20]

In 2018 the museum presented the exhibition "Priests and Holocaust", dedicated to those who opposed totalitarian regimes and mass crimes in the 20th and 21st centuries.[21]

Goals and objectives of the museum

The organizers of the museum set the main goal in the work of the museum: to collect, preserve and communicate to future generations the story of this unprecedented tragedy; to preserve the memory of those who suffered, to educate a new generation of young people who will be able to resist and prevent the emergence of fascism in the 21st century.[22]

In his speech, Eduard Dolinsky, Director General of the Jewish Committee of Ukraine, noted:[23]

The main mission of the museum is to promote knowledge about the Holocaust, preserve the memory of the victims and encourage reflection of the moral and spiritual issues posed by the Holocaust, during which 6 million Jews were destroyed by the nazis

Chairman of the Association of former prisoners of concentration camps and ghettos Roman Shvartsman said:[24][25]

This museum should become a school, a university for young people, so that they understand what the Holocaust is

Today, the Museum presents a fairly large collection of exhibits.[26]

Over the years, since its opening, the Museum has been visited by more than 20 thousand people from around the world:[27] ambassadors, diplomats, heads of cities and regions, students and schoolchildren, and just people who remember or want to learn about the terrible tragedy that is called the Holocaust.

Museum today

The author of the project of the information and historical reference book "Geography of the Holocaust",[28] candidate of Philosophy, director of the Odessa Holocaust museum Pavel Efimovich Kozlenko marked:[29]

We are interested in the socio-cultural aspect of this problem. We want to show. How people in such conditions did not lose her human form

Today, the Museum has a new concept, the most convenient and understandable for visitors, created by Pavel Kozlenko, with the help of the Odessa regional Association of Jews—former prisoners of the ghetto and nazi concentration camps.[30]

The Museum also collaborates with the Institute for the study of the Holocaust. Elie Wiesel (Romania).[31]

References

1. Zabarko, Boris. "THE TRANSNISTRIA: THE PAIN OF OUR MEMORY". ZN.UA. 10 May 2002. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
2. "In Odessa will be a Museum of memory of victims of the Holocaust". ГЛАS. 21 September 2009. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
3. Nilva, Efim. "Long relay of life" (PDF). Good Deed. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
4. "Museum of the "Holocaust – Victims of Fascism" Odessa Regional Association of Jews – former prisoners of the ghetto and nazi camps". Official site of the city of Odessa. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
5. Dolomanji, Antonina. "Former prisoner of the ghetto from Odessa: "Our whole world was restricted by barbed wire"". Odessa Media. 27 January 2017. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
6. "Holocaust Museum". Information Portal to European. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
7. "In Odessa, the first museum of the Holocaust was opened in Ukraine". TSN Ukraine. 22 June 2009. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
8. "A meeting was held at the Holocaust Museum on the beginning of the Great Patriotic War". Odessa-Daily. 23 June 2010. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
9. Cech, Lera. "Photo-report: in Odessa, the anniversary of the opening of the museum of the Holocaust was celebrated". REPORTER. 23 June 2010. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
10. "A museum of the Holocaust was opened in Odessa". Dumskaya. 22 June 2009. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
11. "History of the museum opening". ODESSA REGIONAL ASSOCIATION OF JEWS – THE FORMER GETTO AND CONCENTRATORS. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
12. Markevich, Nadezhda. "In Odessa, a museum will be created to commemorate the prisoners of the ghettos and concentration camps". Segodnya. 2 June 2008. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
13. Zabarko, Boris. "Holocaust Memory" (PDF). Netzulim. May 2017. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
14. Rashkovetsky, Mikhail. "Testament of Lev Dumer". Migdal. 28 April 2008. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
15. Wist, Marieke. "Odessa". Bremkraine. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
16. "In Odessa, an exhibition about the Romanian occupation of the city". Jewish News. 14 October 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
17. Liado, Sergey. "Documents of the period of occupation of Odessa will be made public in the museum of the Holocaust". Odessa-Life. 10 October 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
18. Gorshkov, Nikolay. "Odessa Holocaust Museum". Museums Association. 16 September 2013. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
19. "A mini-diorama "The Ghetto in Transnistria" appeared in the museum of the Holocaust in Odessa". All-Ukrainian Jewish is glad. 28 February 2017. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
20. "A mini-diorama "The Ghetto in Transnistria" appeared in the museum of the Holocaust in Odessa". Lechaim. 28 November 2017. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
21. Vygodsky, Andrey. "The Holocaust Museum exhibited the exhibition "Clergymen and the Holocaust"". Public Surf. 9 March 2018. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
22. "Одесса Музей Холокоста". Magnitogorsk-Travels. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
23. Matveyev, Vladimir. "Odessa Holocaust museum dedicated". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 23 June 2009. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
24. "The museum of the Holocaust was opened in Odessa". V Kurse. 11 September 2009. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
25. "To know and remember". ODESSA REGIONAL ASSOCIATION OF JEWS – THE FORMER GETTO AND CONCENTRATORS. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
26. "ODESSA. Visit to the Holocaust Museum in memory of the victims of fascism". All-Ukrainian Jewish Congress. 12 May 2015.
27. "Meeting of heads of regional organizations of Jews – former prisoners of the ghetto and nazi concentration camps". All-Israel Association "Survivors in concentration camps and ghettos". 13 December 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
28. "ODESSA. Odessa Museum of the Holocaust published a directory "Geography of the Holocaust"". All-Ukrainian Jewish Congress. 16 June 2014. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
29. Kozloff, Nikolas. "Reflections on a Voyage to Odessa, Isaac Babel, the Holocaust and Anti-Semitism". Huffingtonpost. 22 March 2017. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
30. Vygodsky, Andrey. "The Holocaust Museum in Odessa". Public Surf. 25 April 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
31. "Meetings in Bucharest". Memory of generations. 10 November 2011. Retrieved 4 April 2018.