Russian Jews call on Poland to allow Russia's participation in building Sobibor memorial
MOSCOW. Jan 26 (Interfax) - It is inadmissible to eliminate Russia from the committee for the creation of the memorial to the heroes of Sobibor in Poland, Alexander Boroda, the president of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia (FCJR), said.
"We would like to have a positive effect on, in particular, the Polish state's representatives, who don't want to include Russia in the committee for the creation of the monument in Sobibor itself," Boroda said at a press conference in Moscow on Friday.
The Russian Jews view their participation in the creation of the monument as "the restoration of historical justice," because the uprising in the Sobibor death camp was organized by Jewish Soviet soldiers, Boroda said.
"I would like to emphasize that: Soviet soldiers who came to the death camp in Poland. The escape took place and was successful owing to ten ethnically Jewish officers, who were Russian soldiers, which is why Russia must be a part of this organizing committee and participate in the creation of this monument," Boroda said.
Sobibor's history is unique, and the uprising there gave thousands of people the opportunity to save themselves and escape, he said.
Much has been done to perpetuate the memory of this uprising - "a lot, but not enough," Boroda said. The official opening of an exhibition dedicated to the Sobibor uprising will take place at the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center in Moscow on Monday, Holocaust Remembrance Day, he said.