Recent Visits

Pictured (left to right): Adv. Arie Zuckerman, Special Advisor to the Chairman of the Yad Vashem Directorate, Mr. Yuli Edelstein, Minister of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora , Mr. Avigdor Lieberman, Deputy Prime Minister of Israel and Minister of Foreign, Mr. German Khan, Executive Director of TNK BP Affairs, Mr. Mikhail Fridman, Chairman of the Alpha Group, Mr. Avner Shalev, Chairman of the Yad Vashem Directorate, Mr. Pyotr Aven, President of Alpha Bank, Stan Polovets, President and CEO of the Genesis Philanthropy Group

On 12 June, the Advisory Board and Professional staff of the Genesis Philanthropy Group (GPG) came to Yad Vashem for a board meeting and a special ceremony launching the new program supported by GPG. Participants attended a special ceremony in the Hall of Remembrance in the presence of Israel’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Avigdor Liberman; Israel’s Minister of Immigration and Absorption Yuli Edelstein; Chairman of the Yad Vashem Directorate Avner Shalev, Holocaust survivors and IDF soldiers. After the ceremony, a plaque recognizing the support of the GPG was unveiled. The grant provided to Yad Vashem by GPG will promote inter-disciplinary projects in formal and informal education related to the Holocaust Study and Jewish Identity, research and publications, acquisition of new archival documentation, Internet outreach, and data base of Righteous Among the Nations recognition from the areas of the Former Soviet Union.

Mrs. Ada Todd, Mr. and Mrs. Kirzhnev visited Yad Vashem in June 2009 with their friends to conduct a wreath laying ceremony and to rekindled the eternal flame at a memorial service in the Hall of Remembrance in memory of parents of Ada Todd.

On 21 July 2009, Mr. Leonid Leonov, member of the Ukrainian Society for Yad Vashem, visited Yad Vashem. Pictured with Mr. Leonov is Ms. Dina Maslova of Yad Vashem’s Diaspora Affairs Department.

Pictured: Managing Director of the International Relations Division Shaya Ben Yehuda presents Mr. Kirshnev with the Yad Vashem album in Russian

Mr. Alexander Kirshnev, from Russia toured the Yad Vashem campus in November 2008. During his visit he planted a tree in memory of Yaakov and Klara Bekker on behalf of his close friend Ada Todd.

Pictured: Special Advisor to the Chairman of the Directorate Arie Zuckerman, Yvgeny Kupsin, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Pevzner and Mark Gruberg

On November 5th a ceremony took place to honor the Saint Petersburg Jewish Community’s contribution to Yad Vashem. Their donation has enabled accessibility for Russian speakers to the Learning Center

During their visit to Yad Vashem Vladimir Leonov and Elena Kantorovich, members of the Ukrainian Society for Yad Vashem and leaders of the Dnepropetrovsk Jewish Community rekindled the eternal flame at a memorial service in the Hall of Remembrance 

The Falkovich family, members of the Ukrainian Society for Yad Vashem and leaders of the Dnepropetrovsk Jewish Community, participated in an unveiling ceremony at Yad Vashem honoring their donation.  L to R: Falkovich family, Knesset member Yuli Edelstein, Special Advisor to the Chairman of the Directorate Adv. Arie Zuckerman

Celebrated Russian Poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko visited Yad Vashem in November, where he read his poetry at a special event held in his honor. In 1961, Yevtushenko published “Babi Yar”, a protest poem against antisemitism. “Babi Yar” represented a watershed moment in many Russians’ and Ukrainians’ attitude toward the Holocaust after years of denial by the Soviet establishment.

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