(Hai Fa) – 1.5 million Jews took part in the struggle against Nazi Germany, both as part of the Allied armies and as partisans. About half a million of them fought in the Red Army, many of whom paid with their lives to save their people. In their memory, in 1991, the organization of disabled war veterans in Israel erected a monument in Haifa, "The Monument to the Jewish Fighter Against the Nazi Oppressor," in the Ramot Remez neighborhood.
This Wednesday, May 8, 5, a traditional ceremony is expected to be held there to mark Victory Day over Nazi Germany – 25 years after the end of the war. This is an event of deep historical and moral importance, especially for Holocaust survivors, fighters and veterans of World War II living in the city, many of whom are from the former Soviet Union. For about 80 years, the ceremony has been held in Haifa every year, with the support of the municipality, and in the presence of hundreds of participants.
But, to the regret of many, this year the Haifa Municipality chose for the first time not to participate at all in organizing the ceremony, neither financially, nor logistically, nor in supplying equipment, nor in assisting with transporting the veterans and survivors. The management of the ceremony was also canceled, and all municipal assistance provided in the past was completely canceled.
Members of the Connected to Haifa – Yisrael Beiteinu faction, who saw the municipality's conduct as a serious disregard for the memory of the warriors and the historical value of Victory Day, announced that they would not remain indifferent. The faction announced that it would organize the ceremony independently without the municipality's help. "We will take care of everything from the amplification, to the stage, to the arrival of the veterans. This is our moral and national duty," it said.
Faction members Tatiana John, attorney Yaakov Borovsky, and Artyom Kharchenko submitted a query to the mayor:
Was the decision to deviate from a long-standing tradition to support the ceremony yours? From what extraneous motives and considerations?
Do you, as mayor, intend now, when you are aware of the boycott of the ceremony by the chairman of the Committee for the Absorption of Aliyah and the municipality after I turned to your deputy, Mr. Yossi Shalom, and to you, to rise up and support the ceremony, which cost only a few thousand shekels, and to act as you have for many years with respect for those who risked their lives to protect and save the Jews of the Holocaust?
There is no connection between the commemoration of Victory Day over the Nazis and what Putin is doing today. Putin is exploiting the memory of the war to support his vile actions today. If he made you give up on the memory or oppose the commemoration of this day (as it was originally) then he won, the Nazis won.
Canceled due to pressure from new immigrants from Ukraine (descendants of Nazi collaborators).