About us
YAHAD - IN UNUM
About us
YAHAD - IN UNUM
The Organization
hebrew
Yahad
= TOGETHER
latin
IN UNUM
= IN ONE
By learning from the past and educating in the present, we work to prevent genocide and mass killings in the future. Yahad – In Unum combines the Hebrew word – Yahad, meaning “together,” with the Latin phrase In Unum, meaning “in one”. Our organization seeks to unsilence a chapter of history that has remained silent for far too long. In the former Soviet Union, we seek out eyewitnesses to the executions of Jews and Roma as we work towards identifying each execution site and mass grave. The surviving witnesses are in their 80’s and 90’s, and their first-person accounts of history will soon no longer be available. The window of opportunity to collect the evidence is rapidly closing. Without eyewitness testimony, it will be impossible to identify the location of the mass graves and collect the evidence of the genocide.
Yahad - In Unum works towards its mission in 3 different ways:
Yahad – In Unum identifies mass Jewish killing sites and collects forensic evidence of the executions. Our team videotapes witnesses’ testimonies to these killings
To this day, Yahad has conducted research that allowed the identification of over 3000 execution sites and gathered over 7000 testimonies during the course of research trips across 8 countries since 2004 (Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Poland, Romania, Moldova, Latvia, Slovakia, Estonia, Lithuania and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia).
Teaching about the "Holocaust by bullets" using our unique database of recorded witness testimonies has become a key mission of Yahad - In Unum moving forward, and the association's focus on this part of our work is growing year on year.
Yahad - In Unum's educational programs have been developed not only for university students in both Europe and the USA (Father Desbois is professor at Georgetown University in Washington D.C.), but also for educators around the world (Europe, USA and Latin America). Yahad trains more than 500 teachers a year on how to teach the history of the Holocaust by Bullets to new generations.
All of Yahad's educational initiatives focus on using the legacy of the Holocaust By Bullets to raise awareness on contemporary mass crimes and genocides and to fight back against the egregious rise of anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial that has become particularly dangerous online.
The “Holocaust by Bullets” was a model for the mass violence that continues to be so prevalent in the world today.
Bringing to light this little-known chapter of the Shoah helps to honor the memory of forgotten victims. But it's important to emphasize that Yahad is not stuck in the past.
Our work serves to influence all societies to examine the darker recesses of history and to speak out against today’s global disease of genocide.