Claims Conference Considers Various Holocaust Commemorative Proposals

On April 29, 2013, the Committee Memorializing Lost Jewish Culture and Heritage – revitalizing what formerly was known as the Memorial Committee – of the Claims Conference met in New York to consider various Holocaust commemorative proposals. Committee members attending the meeting or participating by telephone or video included the following; Amy Bressman, Sandra Cahn, Menachem Hacohen, Ben Helfgott, Judith Kaufthal, Mark Levin, Dan Mariaschin, David Marwell, Baruch Shub and Susie Stern. Julius Berman, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Claims Conference, as well as Claims Conference staff members – Greg Schneider, Dr. Wesley Fisher and Arie Bucheister – also participated.

Chaim Chesler, Chairman of the Committee, had undertaken preliminary research with respect to the seven potential projects which were outlined – including in St. Petersburg; Kishinev, Moldova; Zhitomir and Odessa in Ukraine; Brest and Volozhin in Belarus; and Sighet, Romania. Each project envisioned a commemorative event and exhibit focusing on the devastating impact of the Shoah in the particular area, as well as a depiction of the Jewish life and culture which had previously flourished there.

The next step for the Committee, after further assessment of the various circumstances related to each proposal, is to make a determination of which project to implement.