Mir Yizkor 5772/2012 Memorial gathering of Mir Landsmenschaft in Israel
The annual ceremony for the Jewish Community of Mir was held at the memorial monument in the Nahalat Yitzhaq Cemetery on August 14, 2012, close to the Jewish calendar Yizkor date. About 20 people, nearly all relatives, attended. Ronen Slutsky addressed the group with a brief account of the Landsmanschaft’s activities for the year, including the opening of the online exhibition and the meeting at Yad Vashem. He further related that in the castle at Mir (the WWII Ghetto in which the community was imprisoned and from which some escaped) there is a small room dedicated to the memory of the Jewish Community. Ronen suggested that additional activities may be carried out at some future time. Hannah Bar-On and Leah Pecker, for her and her husband Haim, gave brief accounts of their recent visits to Mir and their impressions of the site and the memorial room. (Click to see photos.) Their accounts indicate the castle has been restored to a nearly pristine state and that it is a major tourist attraction, complete with souvenir shops, for visitors, primarily from countries of the former Soviet Union. They indicated that the Jewish heritage is only a minor display in a very insignificant place.
Report and photos provided by Eliot Braun Created September 2012