Announcement
The Friends of Jewish Dokshitsy, Inc.
c/o Aaron Ginsburg
43 Ames St.
Sharon, Massachusetts 02067 USA
Aaron Ginsburg President, and Treasurer, Richard Fein, Clerk, Rochelle Ruthchild, and Noah Horowitz, directors.
Web site: The Friends of Jewish Dokshitsy, Inc/ E-mail: info@jewishdokshitsy.org Phone:
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Dear Friend,
I am writing to you because I believe we have a common interest, and perhaps a common heritage, in two Jewish communities in Belarus, those of Dokshitsy and Parafianov, both lost in the Shoah (Holocaust).
Following the Nazi massacre of the Jews of Dokshitsy in 1942, the Jewish cemetery suffered from over two decades of neglect. In 1965, the government turned it into a park. Today, most of the graves are impossible to identify, and all traces of Dokshitsy’s lost Jewish community may soon disappear.
Because our lost ancestors deserve better than this, we have established “The Friends of Jewish Dokshitsy, Inc.” (FJD). The FJD hopes to erect a fence around the cemetery and to preserve the 150 remaining headstones and to otherwise perpetuate the memory of the Jewish residents of Dokshitsy, Parafianov, and nearby villages who suffered similar fates.
Future projects include:
Fencing in the site across the street from the cemetery where most of the Jews in Dokshitsy were murdered.
Erecting a memorial to the Jewish victims.
Landscaping the area around a recently erected memorial in nearby Parafianov at the site where that community was massacred.
You can find more information and pictures at our website or you may contact me directly.
The Jewish community of Dokshitsy no longer exists, except in our hearts. Those for whom we do this cannot acknowledge or repay our efforts on their behalf. Honoring their memory, with no possibility of reciprocation, is among the highest forms of Tzedakah, or righteousness.
To do this, we need your help. A surprising number of American Jews, individuals and extended families, trace their roots to this small corner of Belarus. Together, we can make sure that the lost Jewish communities of Dokshitsy and Parafianov do not disappear forever from our collective memory, known but to G-d.
Please send generous contributions earmarked to “The Friends of Jewish Dokshitsy, Inc" to "The United States Commission for the Preservation Of America’s Heritage Abroad"; your tax-deductible contributions will be passed through to "The Friends of Jewish Dokshitsy, Inc." Should you wish to help as a family, or give some time and energy to helping fulfill the goals of “The Friends of Jewish Dokshitsy,” please contact me.
With sincere thanks,
Aaron Israel Ginsburg
Endorsements:
Ko lekhai! I appreciate and admire your dedication and efforts for
this cause. You do a holy work. I am ready to do anything you think
will be helpful. Yours, Eitan Kremer, Israel
As the person who started the Dokshitz/Parafianov Shtetlinks Web
site and also managed the Dokshitz/Parafianov Yizkor Book
translation, I fully endorse the work that Aaron Ginsburg has been
doing with respect to the Jewish Cemetery and Shoah Memorial site.
He has accomplished much more than anyone with his drive and
persistence. I encourage all descendants of these two towns to fully
support his efforts. Joel Alpert, Woburn, Massachusetts