Open Letter to Friends and Supporters of the Holocaust and Jewish Resistance Memorial Museum Project
The Holocaust and Jewish Resistance Memorial Museum Project was initiated in March 2026 by a group of dedicated individuals united by a deep commitment to preserving the memory of the Holocaust and honoring the victims, survivors, and resistance fighters whose lives were forever shaped by the tragedy that unfolded in Belarus during the Second World War.
The future memorial complex will be built upon the existing Jewish Resistance Museum, located on the site of the former Novogrudok Ghetto. The museum was established in 2007 by Jack Kagan together with Novogrudok historian and researcher Tamara Vershitskaya
Jack Kagan was one of the surviving participants in the historic tunnel escape from the Novogrudok Ghetto. In September 1943, prisoners secretly dug a tunnel beneath the labor camp and carried out what is widely regarded as the largest and most successful tunnel escape from a Nazi-controlled ghetto in occupied Europe.
The project is being developed by the non-profit organization Holocaust and Jewish Resistance Memorial Museum.
Our mission is to preserve the memory of the victims of the Holocaust, safeguard historical truth, and educate future generations about the consequences of hatred, intolerance, and genocide.
The organization is governed by a Board of Directors under the guidance of an international Board of Trustees.
The Board of Trustees will include leading Belarusian scholars and researchers who have dedicated their careers to the study of the Holocaust and Jewish resistance, as well as representatives of Belarusian Jewish religious and community organizations. It will also include descendants of Holocaust survivors, Jewish partisans, and resistance fighters from around the world whose families were directly connected to the Holocaust, Jewish resistance, and the events that took place in Belarus during the Second World War.
The project is supported by an international network of advisors representing Holocaust museums, research institutions, educational organizations, and memorial centers in the United States, Israel, and Europe.
The memorial complex will be located on the site of the former Nazi forced labor camp and ghetto in Novogrudok, Belarus
The planned complex will include a historic two-story museum building of approximately 1,000 square meters, together with preserved structures that once formed part of the wartime labor camp. Visitors will learn about Jewish history, religion, and culture, while the central focus of the museum will be the destruction of Jewish communities in Belarus during the Holocaust.
Special attention will be devoted to the story of Jewish resistance, the activities of Jewish partisan groups, and the extraordinary tunnel escape of September 1943—one of the most remarkable and symbolic acts of Jewish resistance in occupied Europe.
The Memorial Museum is envisioned not only as a place of remembrance and reflection, but also as an international center for education and research, dedicated to preserving historical truth, promoting intercultural dialogue, and strengthening the values of human dignity, freedom, and mutual respect.
We respectfully invite individuals, institutions, and organizations to participate in the creation of this memorial complex. We welcome scholarly, educational, organizational, and philanthropic support, as well as assistance in locating documents, testimonies, photographs, artifacts, and other materials related to the history of the Holocaust and Jewish resistance in Belarus.
We look forward to working with researchers, museums, educational institutions, Jewish organizations, descendants of survivors and resistance fighters, and all people of goodwill who share our commitment to preserving the memory of these events for future generations.
We believe that memory does not belong to the past alone. It is a moral responsibility of the living toward those who can no longer speak for themselves.
With deepest respect,
Andrei Zapolsky
Gene Meltser
Co-Founders of the Project
This project is dedicated to the memory of Jack Kagan (1929–2021), survivor of the Novogrudok Ghetto, participant in Jewish resistance, Bielski partisan, and founder of the Jewish Resistance Museum in Novogrudok, as well as to the memory of all victims of the Holocaust, resistance fighters, and liberators who stood against Nazi tyranny.