a landmark agreement for Holocaust remembrance in Belarus

We are proud to share a remarkable milestone in the work to preserve Jewish memory and heritage in Belarus. On July 10, 2025, a landmark agreement was signed to establish the Belarusian Museum of the Holocaust and Resistance in the historic town of Novogrudok. This agreement brings together the Jewish Religious Union in the Republic of Belarus (chaired by Artur Livshyts and the official partner of The Together Plan), the Belarusian MIR Foundation, and the Novogrudok District Executive Committee.

This will be the first Holocaust museum in Belarus—a long-overdue institution that will fill a critical gap in public history, remembrance, and education. It marks the first major step towards the wider goal of creating a national centre for Holocaust memory in Belarus, giving voice to a history too long neglected.

The location could not be more significant. Under Nazi occupation, approximately 11,000 Jews were murdered in Novogrudok. Despite horrific conditions—including mass executions and the establishment of a brutal ghetto—the town became the site of one of the most extraordinary acts of resistance during the Holocaust.

On September 26, 1943, 250 ghetto prisoners carried out the largest documented tunnel escape in Nazi-occupied Europe. Over five months, they dug a 200-metre tunnel in secret. Many of the escapees later joined the Bielski partisans—the only all-Jewish partisan unit in Belarus—who saved over 1,200 Jews while fighting the Nazis from their base in the Naliboki Forest.

The new museum will serve as; a memorial to the victims of Nazi atrocities in Belarus,  space to document and share stories of survival and resistance, a platform to explore the unique local dimensions of the Holocaust in Belarus, an educational resource to challenge antisemitism, racism, and totalitarianism. This museum is not only about honouring the past—it is about equipping future generations with knowledge, empathy, and the tools to stand against hatred and denial.

Looking ahead and visioning the future, this initiative reflects the ongoing mission of The Together Plan. Since our founding in 2013 by Debra Brunner (UK) and Artur Livshyts (Belarus), we have worked to build community capacity across the former Soviet Union through the lens of Jewish cultural heritage.

In Belarus, we continue to help communities rediscover and reclaim histories that were long silenced under Soviet rule. The establishment of this museum represents a powerful leap forward in that journey, and the work is just beginning.

On July 25, 2025, Debra Brunner travelled to Novogrudok to participate in a symposium with local and national partners—an important step in shaping the museum’s future direction and begin the conversations that will define its role, voice, and impact. Click here to read more about the symposium.

At The Together Plan, we believe remembrance is a responsibility we all share. By helping to bring this museum into being, we are ensuring that the horrors—and the heroes—of Belarus’s wartime past are never forgotten and in this way we are helping to give shape to a more truthful, compassionate future.

We look forward to updating our supporters as this transformative project unfolds. Thank you, as always, for standing with us.

Read the article in the Jewish News here

If you would like to support the next phase of this work, or get involved in future events, please reach out—we would love to hear from you. Please email us at [email protected]