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about us

    The Friends of Jewish Dokshitsy, Inc. is a Massachusetts non-profit organization established to preserve the memory of the Jewish residents of Dokshitsy, Parafianov, and nearby villages in Belarus. The organization was incorporated in 2006 in response to a message from the Dokshitsy District in Belarus to help preserve the Jewish cemetery which was destroyed in 1965 and declared to be a park.

    In May 2008 fourteen descendants and family members were able to travel to Dokshitsy to attend the re-dedication of the restored cemetery. The restoration was a cooperative effort of the Dokshitsy District and The Friends of Jewish Dokshitsy.

    Future projects include   preserving the remnants of a second cemetery much of which is a electric transmission station, and being sure that Holocaust massacre sites in nearby Parafianov and Begoml are appropriately preserved, and erecting monuments with the names of the victims of the Holocaust on the site where they were killed and buried.

    Your help will be needed. Please donate.

    The current directors of The Friends of Jewish Dokshitsy are Aaron Ginsburg, President and Treasurer, Richard Fein, clerk, Rochelle Ruthchild, Noah Horowitz, and Robert Benjamin directors. For information send email to info@jewishdokshitsy.org or call 1-508-647-3739 or write to us c/o Aaron Ginsburg 9 Silver Hill Lane #19, Natick, MA USA. Our home page is at http://www.jewishdokshitsy.org/

    About the board of directors:

  • Aaron Ginsburg, President and Treasurer, and Richard Fein, Clerk, each have a parent (who are siblings) born in Dokshitsy. Aaron  resides in Natick, Massachusetts, and very interested in his family history, which led to his work in founding "The Friends of Jewish Dokshitsy." 
  • Richard Fein, Clerk  Richard recently retired from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst where he founded and ran  the placement office at School of Business. He his a published author of several books about finding employment, and is very active in his local synagogue. 
  • Rochelle G. Ruthchild's grandfather was born in Dokshitsy. Rochelle is a Professor of Graduate Studies, The Union Institute and University. Rochelle visited Dokshitsy in 2002. 
  • Noah Horowitz, of Sharon, Massachusetts, is a very active member of Temple Israel in Sharon, as well as of the Temple brotherhood. 
  • Robert Benjamin is a Dokshitsy descendant who lives in New Jersey. Rob currently is the Director of New Business Development at Sustainable Business Incubator. Rob is our thoughtful wordsmith, and helps make our communications sparkle.