Press releases

2 Aug 2023

Memorial sign for Shimon Peres unveiled in Volozhin District

MINSK, 2 August (BelTA) – A memorial sign commemorating Shimon Peres was unveiled in his native village of Vishnevo, Volozhin District, on 2 August, the day that marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of the famous politician who was the two-time prime minister and the ninth president of Israel and Nobel laureate, BelTA has learned.

The Volozhin land was the birthplace of many famous people. It used to have a yeshiva that raised dozens of talented rabbis who later settled in various parts of the world. The village of Vishnevo in Volozhin District was the hometown of President of the World Jewish Congress Nahum Goldmann.

Szymon Perski who became known as Shimon Peres was born to an ordinary Jewish family in Vishnevo in 1923.

In 1934 the family of the future politician moved to Palestine, though Shimon Peres never forgot his native land. His grandfather who remained in Belarus was shot along with many fellow villagers during the Great Patriotic War. Shimon Peres used every opportunity to come to Vishnevo to visit the former family home and drink water from a local well.

The memorial sign was unveiled on the site of the Perski family home.

“Today we mark the 100th anniversary of Shimon Peres, a great politician and a native of Belarus. He always defended sovereignty and the interests of people. This politician, just like Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko, did a lot for his native country. Shimon Peres worked his way up to become a prominent politician, a Nobel laureate. Therefore, I am grateful to the public, the business community, the Minsk Oblast Executive Committee and the Volozhin District Executive Committee for their involvement in installing the memorial sign in the homeland of the politician,” said Minsk Oblast Deputy Governor Ivan Markevich.

Representatives of the Jewish community also joined the initiative to perpetuate the memory of the famous politician.

“Jews have been living in Belarus for more than six centuries. The Pale of Settlement in the Russian Empire passed right through Belarus. And in many towns and communities the share of Jewish population was 50% or more. Some towns had a nearly 100% Jewish population. Yiddish was heard even more often there than the Russian and Belarusian languages. Therefore, it is not surprising that immigrants from Belarus settled all over the world,” said Oleg Rogatnikov, President of the Union of Belarusian Jewish Public Associations and Communities.

He also noted that many immigrants from Belarus made up the intellectual elite in many countries of the world.

"The first President of Israel, Chaim Weizmann, was born in Motol, Ivanovo District, Brest Oblast. The third President of Israel, Zalman Shazar, was born in Mir, Korelichi District, and Shimon Peres was born in Volozhin District.

"Shimon Peres is a unique person. He served as prime minister (two terms), as the ninth President of Israel. He, a simple boy from Belarus, became a Nobel Prize winner," Oleg Rogatnikov said.

"When you drive through Belarus and see the signposts, you get the impression that you are traveling through a history book. Every place is, in one way or another, connected with the history of the Jews. While most places, unfortunately, are related to the past, this place in Vishnevo is different. The figure of Shimon Peres symbolizes the future in many ways. This man stood at the origins of the Jewish military industry; he did a lot for the development of Israeli fundamental science. In many ways he showed Israel the way to the future. This gives the place additional symbolism," Charge d'Affaires of the State of Israel in the Republic of Belarus Zvi Mirkin said.

The memorial sign installed in the yard of the former house of the Perski family is made of an ordinary Belarusian boulder. On the one side it is an untreated stone, and on the other it is polished and has a plaque with an inscription under the emblems of the two states, Belarus and Israel, that reads that this is the place of birth of the man who was destined to become world famous. The idea was suggested by the architect, associate professor of the Belarusian State Academy of Arts Konstantin Kostiuchenko.

After the unveiling of the memorial sign, the participants of the event drank water from the well, the taste of which Shimon Peres always recalled.

The renovated manor house, the well with its healing water, the museum exposition about Shimon Peres in the Vishnevo community center, the old Jewish cemeteries, the Volozhin yeshiva, which is to be renovated soon… All this may become points of a tourist route in the near future.



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