More than 1,000 people gathered at Rostov-on-Don, which 70 years ago witnessed the worst Holocaust atrocity in Russia.

Wearing arm bands marked with a Star of David, the crowd on Sunday marched to the mass grave of approximately 27,000 people executed by German soldiers near the city in 1942. Most of the victims were Jewish, according to the Russian Jewish Congress.

Leading the procession was Rabbi Meir Lau, a Holocaust survivor and former chief rabbi of Israel.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

“The unprecedented turnout shows the memory of the Jewish genocide in Rostov is shared and preserved by Jews and non-Jews,” Russian Jewish Congress President Yury Kanner said.

Last year the memorial site became the subject of a legal fight between Kanner’s organization and local government. The Russian Jewish Congress petitioned the court about a memorial plaque that city officials had placed last November at the city’s Zmievskaya Balka mass grave that noted “mass killing by the fascists of captured Soviet citizens.” It replaced a plaque from 2004 that did mention the Holocaust.

A ruling on the matter is expected later this year, according to Matvey Chlenov, the RJC’s deputy executive director. Chlenov told JTA that city officials wrote a memo warning that mentioning the Holocaust could lead to “ethnic unrest.”

Southern Russia is home to many immigrants from the Caucasus region. Nationalist Russians staged riots there in 2010.

“We believe the new plaque is a parody more than any case of anti-Semitism or deliberate Holocaust obfuscation,” Chlenov said. “We nonetheless believe the original plaque at Zmievskaya Balka must be restored. It’s a matter of basic recognition of the identity of the victims.”

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount