Located in the Former Soviet Union, Minsk, Belarus sits northeast of Poland and northwest of Ukraine. The Jews in Belarus were the third largest ethnic group in the country in the first half of the 20th century, comprising more than 40% of the population in cities and towns before World War II. The population of Belarus’ cities, including Minsk, was more than 50% Jewish. Some 800,000 Jews – 90% of the Jewish population – were killed in Belarus during the Holocaust.

Slowly over the last 20 years, the Jewish community in Minsk is being reborn. Third generation Jews are just learning of their identities from their parents, and even their grandparents, who were too afraid to live open Jewish lives in the wake of the Holocaust and the Iron Curtain. Today, an estimated 40,000 Jews now reside in Belarus; half of whom live in Minsk. As part of its mission to care for Jews in need and build strong Jewish community in Atlanta and around the world, Federation extends grants to fund a variety of programs and projects in Minsk to help the community grow and thrive.

Programs and projects currently supported by Federation include:

• Summer camp programs for children and families where Jewish learning and a love of Israel can flourish
• Sunday school programs that engage children and families throughout the year in meaningful Jewish education
• A Bar/Bat Mitzvah program that enables teenagers and their families to prepare for and celebrate this special Jewish milestone event
• Leadership development programs that engage and encourage young adults to become Jewish leaders in community endeavors
• The annual Passover Project, led by young adults, that offers seders for the elderly living in and around Minsk
• Welfare services that provide food, medicine, and counseling to elderly Nazi victims

Seeing the changes in Minsk and hearing the stories of the families being affected first-hand is life changing.

Cheri Levitan, Federation’s Vice President of Community Planning and Impact, told the story of a man she met in October:  “I met a 53-year old man who reluctantly attended the JDC summer family camp. He originally didn’t want to go for fear of being embarrassed in front of his children over his lack of Jewish knowledge. He knew he was Jewish, but didn’t know anything about being Jewish.  The camp program enabled him to learn/explore/share his Judaism in meaningful ways that he never could have imagined. I was thrilled to see him again, this summer, with his daughter at camp!”

Howard Feinsand, Chair of the Board, went to Minsk for his first time in July where he was moved by a young woman’s experience:

“Vera is a 20-year old who learned of her Judaism from her mother at age 16. She accepted an offer from JAFI (the Jewish Agency for Israel) to attend a summer camp session, where she befriended other Jewish teens for the first time in a safe and open environment. She learned about Israel, Jewish traditions, and the tragic history of the Belarus Jewish community. While working full time as business manager of an auto repair shop, she found time to be trained and serve as a summer camp counselor. This October, Vera will be a counselor in a program leading teens on an expedition throughout Belarus to locate and catalog physical remnants of lost Jewish communities. Vera’s excitement in connecting with her Jewish soul is palpable and lights the way for others like her.”

Learn more about what Federation is doing to help Jews in Minsk, and elsewhere in the Former Soviet Union (FSU) – and plan your own visit to see for yourself: contact Cheri Levitan at clevitan@jewishatlanta.org.