Join us on Zoom for the final segment of a three part series about Jewish Odessa to uncover the most devastating period of Odessa’s Jewish history -the Nazi and Romanian occupation during World War II. Visit the Holocaust Memorial, created as a private initiative of an honorable Odessa citizen. Hear the story of Odesseans who saved Jews during the war, among them a doctor, who has been called “Odessa’s Schindler.”

Our presenter will virtually take you to the area of the first Jewish ghetto, established in 1942. See the place where 24,000 Jews and Red Army soldiers were burnt in four wooden barracks.

Find out what affect this tragic period left upon Odessa’s Jewry, and how this tragic period is currently commemorated. Learn the story of the city’s Holocaust survivors.

Our presenter for this very special program is Olga Bokhonovskaya, an Odessa local. Having earned her MBA in the US and formerly been employed in the field of marketing, she switched to the tourism industry in 2011 and founded Odessa Walks touring company back in her home country to supply international travelers with an authentic Odessa experience. Her areas of expertise include cultural, historic, and Jewish heritage tours. Before the war in the Ukraine, she had 3 guides working for her company. Because of the pandemic, she created live-stream virtual programs starting in 2020 that share her hometown’s beauty and rich history to people from around the world, who might not otherwise have had that opportunity.

Olga is excited to share her passion for her home city by presenting its Jewish heritage through this series she created on Zoom especially for the LESJC that will allow us the opportunity to explore the sights, learn the history, and hear about the people that have made or presently make Odessa such a unique and special place.

You do NOT have to have attended the previous two parts of this series to participate in this talk.

This talk will last approximately 1 hour, followed by Q & A with Olga.