Holocaust by Bullets exhibition opens in Ukraine Seventy years after the invading Nazi’s campaign of genocide began in their country, Ukrainians are confronting this dark chapter of their past through an exhibition of the Holocaust by Bullets in Kiev. Cosponsored with Ukraine’s Victor Pinchuk Foundationand Paris’ Memorial of the Shoah , the “Shoah by Bullets: the Mass Shootings of Jews in Ukraine 1941-1944,” recounts the history of the mass shootings in Ukraine and details the work of Yahad – In Unum to document the evidence, educate the public and preserve a dignified remembrance of the victims. An educational program created by the USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education, USA, and the Ukrainian Centre for Holocaust Studies also will be carried out around the exhibition to involve, inform and engage Ukrainian pupils and students in a dialogue on the subject. The ambassadors to Ukraine of France, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, the UK and the U.S. and Ukrainian government officials took part in the public opening. The exhibition is part of Ukraine’s memorial observance of the September 1941 Babi Yar massacre.

More information on the exhibition: Father Desbois video tour U.S. Ambassador’s blog UK Ambassador’s blog Yahadblog coverage Press coverage

International symposium Twenty-five leading historians and scholars from around the world presented and discussed research results on the subject of Nazi camps in the Occupied Soviet Territories at an international symposium in Paris last month. The seminar, organized by Yahad with the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Sorbonne and the Ecole Normale Superieure focused on this relatively unexplored aspect of the Holocaust marked by staggering rates of death among the camps’ populations of Jews, Roma, Soviet prisoners of war and civilians. The seminar is the third international gathering of historians and researchers organized by Yahad to focus in-depth discussion and exchange regarding a particular aspect of the Holocaust in the East. In 2009, the focus was on the Nazi’s attempt to destroy the evidence of their crimes by exhuming and burning the corpses of their victims in the vast “Operation 1005.” In 2010, the subject was Soviet Administrative Systems adopted by the Nazis to carry out persecution and genocide.

Ukrainian version of the Holocaust by Bullets published With the support of a Ukrainian educational foundation and the French Embassy in Ukraine, a Ukrainian language version of Father Desbois’ award-winning book “The Holocaust by Bullets,” was released at a September 8 press conference in Kiev. Previously available in French, English Italian, German and Dutch, it is the first time the book has been translated into one of the languages of the countries in which the history it recounts took place. The new edition was translated and edited in Ukraine and is being distributed to schools throughout the country.

Recent Yahad field investigations (click highlighted links to read reports)
December 2010	Belarus	Grodno	May – June 2010	Ukraine	Dnepropetrovsk
December 2010	Ukraine	Tcherkassy	April – May, 2010	Belarus	Baranovitchi
December 2010	Ukraine	Dnepropetrovsk	March 2010/	Belarus	Baranovitchi
November 2010	Belarus	Grodno	January 2010	Ukraine	Podolia
November 2010	Russia	Bryansk	December 2009	Russia	Smolensk
August 2010	Ukraine	Vinnytsia	October 2009	Russia	Smolensk
July 2010	Poland	Lublin	August 2009	Belarus	Pinsk
June – July 2010	Ukraine	Dnepropetrovsk	May 2009	Ukraine	Ternopil

Meeting of Yahad’s Scientific Committee The Scientific Committee of Yahad met in Paris last month to review recent activities and the planned program of research for the next several months. Composed of a number of the world’s leading experts on the Holocaust, the Committee includes professors, historians and scholars from Belgium, France, Germany, Russia, Spain, Ukraine, the UK and the U.S. who advise Yahad on its research and other initiatives.

2010 Yahad activity report published The 2010 activities report of Yahad – In Unum is now available online under the Publications section on Yahad’s web site.

Meet Team Yahad Each month, we profile one of the dedicated team members who help make the work of Yahad – In Unum possible. Marco Gonzalez, Executive Director of Yahad – In Unum, has been with the organization since its founding in 2004 when it was still little more than the individual initiative of Father Desbois. Today, Marco is responsible for a team of 15 professionals working in the Paris office, field team members located in Ukraine, researchers in Germany and Washington, D.C. and a network of volunteers and partners around the world. In addition to supervising the organization’s administrative, finance, research and education departments, he negotiates with governmental agencies and major institutions to advance Yahad’s research and education activities and represents Yahad before numerous public audiences. A native of Guatemala, his early career experience included positions in the insurance and tourism and hospitality industries before beginning to work with Father Desbois through the French Bishops Conference (2002-2004). He says that despite the association’s growth into a globally-recognized institution, it is still Yahad’s individual focus that he finds most compelling. “Waking up every morning with the feeling that I am contributing something to history and to protecting the memory of another individual human being, it’s what makes me truly passionate about this work.”

Upcoming public events París -the seminar “Writing the history of the Holocaust” (in French) begins October 19 at the Ecole Normale Supérieure. Yahad contact: m.moutier@yahadinunum.org  read more about daily Yahad activities on Yahadblog read recent press articles about Yahad-In Unum read past issues of Yahad-In Unum News send your comments about Yahad–In Unum News