|  On
May 7 Mazal Tov gathered the children and their parents in the Park of 28 Panfilov's
Guardsmen on the occasion of the Independence Day. First there was a talk
about the holiday.
The children and the parents were offered
to compare the Independence Day celebration in Kazakhstan and in Israel. Children
were the first to answer the uneasy question - they found three differences: the
dates, the flag appearance, and of course the languages.
The
parents found more similarities than differences - singing and dancing, salute,
cities and towns decorated with balloons and flags, people willing to spend this
day together remembering the history of their country.
Having listened to all the above the head of the Day Center Tatyana Risman summed
up:
"Everything you have said is true. But I want to
add that the Independence Day is more joyous in Kazakhstan. It is not concerned
with losses in long bloody battles. Israeli people remember of 14 thousand Jews
who died in the struggle for independence."
Then
the children painted pictures on the subject of the holiday and together with
their parents thought out associations to the words "independence', "freedom",
etc.
Besides for the children, Day Center clients also took
part in the meeting. It was due to them that the younger generation felt the importance
of the Independence Day.
Many of the Day Center clients are
WWII veterans. On the threshold of the Victory Day the children congratulated
them with war poems.
One of the Day Center clients Liya Frishman told the history of the
Park of 28 Panfilov's Guardsmen. The children were impressed by the soldiers'
fortitude and fame. Both the youth and the old walked along the Memorial Path
past brasses with engraved names of 28 guardsmen, those who fought in an unequal
battle against the enemy in winter 1941. We remember them.
Thanks
to the fine weather Mazal Tov visited other memorial places as well. Kindness,
care, and stories told by the Day Center clients will linger in their minds for
a long time.
Oksana Sibgatulina |
