The new exhibit, coined The Savior, was curated to honor the 75th anniversary of the victory of the Allied forces over the Axis powers. The exhibit is currently on display at the Manezh Central Exhibition Hall in central Moscow, and was made possible with the financial support of several municipal institutions in the city, including the Moscow City Administration, The Russian Federal Agency for Ethnic Affairs, The Russian Research and Educational Holocaust Centre, and Fores LTD.
RJC President Yuri Kanner hailed the exhibit as an important tool for enlightening the public on the “courage, self-sacrifice, and humanism,” of ordinary individuals who underwent extraordinary risk protecting Jews during the Holocaust.
“It is especially important that the themes of tragedy and heroism during the Holocaust be relayed to younger generations in a manner that is interesting, familiar, and important. The future of our society depends on our children learning from the mistakes of history,” Kanner added.
The exhibit's interactive display is a a multi-media installation that allows visitors to witness a virtual conversation between the rescuer and those in need of rescue. It also includes testimonies from those Righteous Among the Nations, and their personal experiences during WWII and the Holocaust.
Two Russian students initiated the exhibit after interviewing Holocaust survivors for a school project, coming to the realization that its important to ensure their stories were told. The display is centered on a large cylinder containing the names of more than 250 recognized Russian Righteous Among the Nations, in addition to blank plates, which symbolizes the unknown individuals who helped Jews during the Holocaust.