For Joseph Zrihen, this honour was the fulfilment of a strong commitment to make Father Desbois’ exceptional work known across Israel in general and at Bar Ilan in particular. This remarkable man has dedicated his life to making known the “Holocaust by bullets” that happened in Ukraine and the neighbouring occupied countries. He has been undertaking an extraordinary work which over the past nine years has taken him up and down these countries, questioning the last survivors of Nazi barbarity, finding the mass graves, telling about the horror and attempting to give a fitting burial to hundreds of thousands Jews. In Ukraine alone it is reckoned that over a million and a half Jews fell victims to the Holocaust of by bullets.
“Father Desbois has been recognised for this most noble and courageous of missions in France and in the United States, and it seemed to me that a major Israeli university such as Bar-Ilan would honour itself and honour Israel by awarding him such a prestigious distinction as a doctorate honoris causa,” said Joseph Zrihen. “I’m proud to have been the instigator of this reward, accompanied and supported by the friendship and conviction of the president of CRIF, Richard Prasquier.”
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