The Holocaust of the Jews in the former Soviet Union has remained a mystery, even though it has been many decades since the war ended. Due to ideological and political reasons, the Soviet regime did not recognize the unique and tragic nature of the extermination of Jews by the Nazis. It was only after the dismantling of the Soviet Union that efforts towards documentation and commemoration of Holocaust victims in these areas became possible.
Following seven years as the head of a project at Yad Vashem to recover the names of Holocaust victims in the Former Soviet Union, Boris Maftsir sets out on a journey never seen before on screen – a journey to restore the memory of a Holocaust that has been all but forgotten.
In the “The Guardians of Remembrance”, the first film of the project, “The Holocaust in the Soviet Union,” Boris Maftsir offers a comprehensive and accurate picture of the events of the Holocaust in Belarus.
The Guardians of Remembrance depicted in the film are both Jews and non-Jews, including local individuals striving for commemoration.The film “The Guardians of Remembrance” was filmed at the actual murder sites and precisely captures the sense of time and place of the tragic events.
