Babiy Yar Commemoration: 81st Anniversary

Join CJE SeniorLife Holocaust Community Services and Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center (IHMEC)  for an evening with Dr. Martin Dean, renowned Holocaust historian, author, former war crimes investigator, and researcher with the Babiy Yar Holocaust Memorial Center. Dr. Dean will examine the complex history of the Babiy Yar ravine, where more than 33,000 Jewish men, women, and children were murdered in just two days. Incorporating new research, witness testimony, and images from a 3-D model curated by the Babiy Yar Holocaust Memorial Center, Dean will reconstruct the landscape as it existed on September 29-30, 1941, and describe the route taken by the Jews into the ravine.

This gathering will include music by internationally renowned cellist, composer and vocalist Ian Maksin, remarks by Holocaust Community Services and IHMEC; the launch of Volume II of Never Heard Never Forget– a new collection of narratives in memoriam and honor of Chicago Russian-speaking Survivors; and a candle-lighting ceremony with local Survivors. The program will be conducted in English with simultaneous Russian translation. A virtual viewing option will be available.

Complimentary docent-led tours of IHMEC’s gallery focused on the Holocaust in the Soviet Union will run from 4:00 – 5:15 pm. The program will start at 5:30 pm. A link will be sent to all registrants for the virtual program 24 hours before the commemoration.

Co-sponsored by CJE SeniorLife Holocaust Community Services, Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, and the Peter Polsky Freedom Fund. Program funders include the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, private foundations, and individual donors.