CAJM and AEJM Statement

AEJM stands in solidarity with all cultural organisations and individuals in Ukraine.

Our colleagues at the Council of American Jewish Museums (CAJM) have issued the below statement, signed by both:

Dear Colleagues,

We are writing to increase awareness around the threat to Jewish cultural property in Ukraine and other sites at risk from wartime aggressions. This morning, missiles targeting Kyiv hit the cemetery at Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center – where 34,000 Jews were murdered during the Nazi occupation. Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said Israel will help repair damage caused to the site, according to the Times of Israel.

As Jewish museum professionals, our work is not only to preserve Jewish cultural property at home, but to protect Jewish heritage at large, to stand against hatred, and to counter misinformation – including the misrepresentation and misappropriation of Holocaust history to claim that Ukraine must be “denazified” and that Ukrainians are perpetrating “genocide.”

We are working with colleagues across the museum world to help identify needs and responses to these threats. If you know of museums at risk and have specific information, please contact us at communications@cajm.net.