02 May 2008, 10:17
Victims of Holocaust commemorated in Georgia
On May 1, an event to commemorate victims of Holocaust was held in Tbilisi in the Georgian Ombudsman's office. It was attended by representatives of the Ombudsman's staff, Georgian president's administration, Israeli organizations, German, Polish and Armenian diasporas, the Georgian Jewish community, the Main Rabbi of Georgia, and the European Center on National Minorities.
The attendants commemorated the victims of Holocaust by a minute of silence, remembered and discussed the events connected with genocide of Jews. Seven candles were lit in the their memory (six - in the memory of six millions of fallen Jews and one - in the memory of victims of other nationalities). The attendants commemorated Grigol Peradze, the Georgian public figure (he was subsequently canonized), who had taken part in the anti-fascist movement and sacrificed his life to save a Jewish student.
The "Caucasian Knot" reported earlier that in Batumi outskirts a cemetery was desecrated in Georgia, several tombs on the Jews' graves were damaged and destroyed. The unknown persons painted swastikas and Nazi slogans on the tombs.
The Georgian authorities promised to identify and punish the persons guilty of this act of vandalism.
Author: Edita Badasian, CK correspondent
