Over 500 persons took part in the “March of the living” in Rostov-on-Don

Mourning ceremonies devoted to the 70^th anniversary of the tragedy in Zmievskaya balka where in August of 1942 the Nazis killed more than 20 thousand people passed off in Rostov-on-Don. About 500 persons took part in a procession called the “March of the living”.

At nine o’clock in the morning on Sunday the participants of the action started for the memorial in Zmievskaya balka. There were several stops during the procession when young Jews wearing beanies read out historical episodes, such as evidence of eyewitnesses or the Germans’ appeal to the Jews in 1942, prayers and psalms.

All the Jews were wearing black sleeve bands with an image of a star in memory of all the events that happened during the years of occupation.

In the territory of the memorial complex of Zmievskaya balka pupils of lyceums and schools, representatives of regional and municipal administration who had come to the memorial by cars were already waiting for the column. People near the memorial were singing songs of the war years. After the start of the final procession was announced the column came up to the Eternal Flame where the Christians laid flowers and the Hebrews laid stones.  

“Seventy years ago a great number of people perished here, ones who had done nothing bad, committed no sin against other people. There were men and women, children and pregnant women among those killed. It was a terrible tragedy. We also marched the way these people went to meet their death 70 years ago. But we called it the “March of the living” because we are alive, we remember and should never forget all those events”, Meir Israel Lau, Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv, Chairman of Board of guardians of “Yad Vashem” museum, declared after saying a prayer in Hebrew.