A memorial plaque to a Kabbalist rabbi was unveiled at a Kyiv detention center
An entire room in the detention center was allocated for the rabbi's memorial plaque.
In Kyiv, on the grounds of the Lukyanivske Remand Prison, a memorial plaque was unveiled in honor of Rabbi Levi-Yitzchak Schneerson (1878–1944), a prominent figure in Judaism. The ceremony took place on the day of Schneerson's remembrance. This was reported by the Facebook page of the Chabad Lubavitch community in Kyiv.
Judging by the photographs, an entire room in the detention center was allocated for the rabbi's memorial. Mannequins dressed in NKVD uniforms were placed there, along with shelves of Jewish literature.
Rabbi Levi-Yitzchak Schneerson was the chief rabbi of Dnipro, a renowned Kabbalist, and the father of the seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem-Mendel Schneerson. In 1939, the Soviet authorities arrested him for his commitment to religious activity — the pretext being his demand to provide the community with kosher matzah for Passover. The rabbi spent 303 days in custody, after which he was sentenced to five years of exile in Kazakhstan.
The initiative to install the commemorative plaque was put forward by the Chief Rabbi of Kyiv, Yonatan Markovich, and the youth rabbi of Kyiv, Ariel Markovich. "This plaque is not merely an inscription on a wall. It is a reminder that even in the darkest of times, there was a man who did not abandon his faith or his people," Markovich emphasized.
As the SPJ reported, clergy of the UOC delivered Easter gifts to the Lukyanivske Remand Prison. During the Soviet era, the Lukyanivske Remand Prison was used to hold political and religious prisoners, among whom were representatives of various confessions who became victims of repression for their loyalty to their convictions.
