Dozens of actors, dressed in World War II fighters' clothes, are currently staying in the forests of Ukraine as part of a huge production to recreate battles of Jews who fought in the forests against the Nazis.
Behind them are hundreds of production people, who together make up one of the most invested ventures of recent years in the field of Jewish history.
This is a project that was launched as part of the establishment of the "Jewish Warrior in World War II" museum near the "Yad LaShiryon" site in Latrun.
The museum, which was approved 20 years ago and has more than NIS 40 million invested in it, is nearing completion and will open by May 2022. About 1.5 million Jews who fought in the armies of the USSR, the United States, Britain and other countries will be commemorated there.
The uniqueness of the museum, built with the support of the Ministry of Jerusalem and Heritage and the Yad Haim Herzog Association, is through the interactive display of the exhibits: large parts of the historical battles will be restored, and a huge photographic production in Ukraine is underway.
Pushing the establishment of the museum.
Minister Zeev Elkin // Photo: Oren Ben Hakon,
The reconstructions focus on familiar figures from the Jewish world, such as the late Chaim Herzog, who fought in the British army, the late Brigadier General (Res.) Yitzhak (Tulka) Arad, who was in the Lithuanian underground and a partisan, and the navigator Polina Gelman, who bombed hundreds of Nazi Germany targets and The war was awarded the title of "Hero of the USSR".
The process of selecting the participants in the reconstruction films focused on selecting actors who are reminiscent of Jewish heroes in appearance.
Haim Herzog in the uniform of the British Army and the recovery actor,
The center of the museum will chronologically present the story of the war, through the armies and fighters' organizations from the beginning of the war in September 1939 until its end in late 1945. Between the six wings of the museum, a significant portion will be dedicated to half a million Jews who fought in the Soviet Red Army.
The USSR wing will present "Operation Barbarossa", the liberation from the extermination camps and more. About 200,000 Jews who fought in the Red Army fell in battles against Nazi Germany.
Polina German in the Red Army Media and the Reconstruction Actress, Photo: Museum of the Jewish Warrior in World War II
Half a million Jewish fighters who fought in the U.S. military and stories of heroism in fighting the Nazis will be displayed in the U.S. Wing.
Another wing deals with partisans and fighters of the underground, the ghetto rebels and the camps.
In addition to these, training and study centers, an information center, a research center, an archive and more will be established in the museum.
Orit Lerer, Arad's daughter, who after his retirement was, among other things, chairman of the Yad Vashem board, says that the Museum of Remembrance for the Jewish Warrior was a dream for which her father worked for years, but did not get to see it come true. Of the museum, and I'm very saddened by the fact that it did not get to open, "she said.
"The Jewish Warrior Museum in World War II is a very important project in commemorating the Holocaust and heroism in Israel and around the world," said the Minister of Construction and Housing, Jerusalem and Zeev Elkin's Heritage. A significant way in preserving and strengthening the national heritage and the memory of heroism alongside the Holocaust experienced by the Jewish people. "
The director of the Jewish Warrior Museum, Brigadier General (Res.) Zvika Ken Tor: History. The films will be part of the museum's permanent display. "