On Commemorative Ceremony in the Forest of the Righteous near Jerusalem
24.10.2025On October 24, 2025, in the Forest of the Righteous (Ya’ar HaKedoshim) near Jerusalem, at the monument to the victims of the Jewish ghettos in Belarus, a commemorative meeting was held to mark the 80th Anniversary of the Great Victory in World War II, along with a ceremony of laying a capsule with soil from the Minsk Ghetto.
The event was organized by the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus in the State of Israel together with the All-Israeli Association of Natives from Belarus and the All-Israeli Association of Holocaust Survivors and Refugees, with the support of the Jewish National Fund Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael (KKL).
The presence of high-ranking guests emphasized the importance of the event for strengthening Belarusian-Israeli relations and preserving historical memory.
The ceremony was attended by the Deputy Speaker of the Knesset of the State of Israel, the Director General of the NATIV Bureau under the Prime Minister’s Office of Israel, senior representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel, including the First Deputy Director General, the Ambassadors of Russia and Uzbekistan, diplomats from the embassies of Kazakhstan and Serbia, public figures, journalists, and representatives of the Belarusian diaspora.
In his welcoming remarks, the Ambassador of Belarus to Israel, Yury Yaroshevich, emphasized that Belarus and Israel share a common tragic history – both peoples endured the horrors of World War II and the Holocaust, yet managed to preserve faith, historical memory, and human dignity.
The head of the Diplomatic Mission stressed that, eight decades after the Great Victory, Belarus sacredly cherishes the memory of all who perished in the Belarusian Khatyn villages, in ghettos and concentration camps, and of those who fought for freedom and helped others at the risk of their own lives. The Ambassador highlighted the contribution of Belarusians recognized as Righteous Among the Nations, as well as those who fought against Nazism in partisan units and in the ranks of the Red Army.
The ceremony of laying a capsule with soil from the Minsk Ghetto became a symbol of the shared destiny of the Belarusian and Jewish peoples. This soil carries the pain and memory of the hundreds of thousands of Belarusian Jews who perished during the Holocaust, and of those Belarusians who, risking their lives, saved their fellow citizens.
At the memorial meeting, it was noted that Belarus attaches special importance to preserving the memory of Holocaust victims. In 2000, the President of the Republic of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, took part in the opening of a monument to the victims of the Holocaust at the site of the former Minsk Ghetto, known as “The Pit.” This memorial has become one of the key symbols of mourning and remembrance for the Jews murdered by the Nazis on Belarusian soil.
In 2015, the “Trostenets” memorial complex was inaugurated – the largest site of mass extermination on the territory of modern Belarus, which has become an important international center of remembrance of the Holocaust and World War II.
The event concluded with a minute of silence, the recitation of the Jewish memorial prayer Kaddish, and the laying of wreaths at the monument to the victims of the Jewish ghettos in Belarus.
