On June 22, 2022, a monument To the Victims of the Holocaust was opened on the Alley of Monuments of the municipality of Orhei.
The Monument to the Victims of the Holocaust, opened in Orhei, was created by the famous sculptor Naum Epelbaum about 30 years ago. The Jewish Community of the Republic of Moldova managed to buy this monument and turn it into metal. For Orhei, this is not the only monument associated with the terrible tragedy. During the Soviet era, the Jews of the town succeeded in erecting commemorative signs for the perished compatriots. This was practically impossible in the USSR, where the monuments in the places of extermination of Jews had to be accompanied by the inscription like: To the dead or brutally murdered Soviet citizens. They could not mention the Jewish ethnicity of the victims. The Jews of Orhei found a solution to this issue by erecting monuments at the Jewish cemetery. There are inscriptions in Yiddish and Russian on the monuments. The largest monument is called: Mass Grave. The ashes of the Jews who were brutally murdered by the Nazis in 1941 lie here. The monument contains many names, three photographs, inscriptions of names in Russian, Yiddish and Hebrew. In some cases, the names of the children are given, but sometimes only their number.
The cemetery is located on a hill in a landslide zone. This destroys the cemetery, especially its old part, where many unique ancient burials are located. The cemetery is surrounded by a stone fence, which is destroyed in several places. Some ancient burials have merged or are adjacent to old one-story buildings. Pets graze in the cemetery. The size of the cemetery is 400 thousand square meters. It is believed that the number of burials and tombstones is 15 thousand. Some of the graves have been described and catalogued. The oldest discovered and dated slabs date back to the 18th century. However, older burials are also possible, since the Jewish community settled on the territory of Orhei already in the 16th century.
On June 22, 2022, a monument To the Victims of the Holocaust was opened on the Alley of Monuments of the municipality of Orhei.
The Monument to the Victims of the Holocaust, opened in Orhei, was created by the famous sculptor Naum Epelbaum about 30 years ago. The Jewish Community of the Republic of Moldova managed to buy this monument and turn it into metal. For Orhei, this is not the only monument associated with the terrible tragedy. During the Soviet era, the Jews of the town succeeded in erecting commemorative signs for the perished compatriots. This was practically impossible in the USSR, where the monuments in the places of extermination of Jews had to be accompanied by the inscription like: To the dead or brutally murdered Soviet citizens.
In 1989, the Jewish community of Orhei received the building in the center of the town. It was situated next to the place where one of the synagogues was located, completely destroyed during the Second World War, like the vast majority of buildings and structures in Orhei. It is a one-story building. The total area is about 100 square meters. An enclosed courtyard adjoins the house. The premises itself was built in 1950. The building has been renovated several times. Before the entrance, there was a sign with inscriptions in Russian and Romanian. In Romanian, it is indicated that this is a “prayer house”. The synagogue was used by the Jewish community for local events and meetings.
The building of the synagogue in the city of Orhei was practically not used for religious services and events.
