Ukraine commemorated the 82nd anniversary of the Babyn Yar massacre, which saw the mass killing of Jews in Nazi-occupied Kyiv. The country used the occasion to emphasize the significance of this event in the fight against “Russian aggression”. The Nazi forces executed around 34,000 Jewish individuals, including men, women, and children, from September 29-30, 1941, at Babyn Yar, a ravine located on the outskirts of Kyiv. At the time, Kyiv was part of the Soviet Union during World War Two. Babyn Yar continued to witness more killings over the next two years, with the victims comprising mostly Jews as well as Roma, non-Jewish Ukrainians, Poles, and Russians.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy highlighted the importance of remembering and never forgetting such historical events. After leaving a candle at the monument of a Jewish menorah, he expressed, “‘Never again!’ are not empty words.” The President engaged with a small group of individuals that included relatives and descendants of the victims, along with rabbis from various Ukrainian cities.
During the annual march to the monument, a serviceman named Yurii, also known as “Seff,” stated that their days of commemoration have been increasingly emotional due to the ongoing war. The conflict has heightened their sensitivity towards justice, pain, memory, and love.
The Ukrainian foreign ministry called on the global community to prevent the recurrence of such massacres and emphasized Russia’s invasion of Ukraine 19 months ago. It stated, “The memory of Babyn Yar and the slogan ‘Never again’ are the moral basis of humanism and opposition to any forms of aggressive-chauvinistic ideologies, in particular, Russian aggression against Ukraine.”
Zelenskiy, Ukraine’s first Jewish president, although not publicly religious, personally connects to the Babyn Yar tragedy as most of his grandfather’s family perished during World War Two.
In February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, justifying it as a “special military operation” to de-nazify and demilitarize its neighbor. However, Kyiv and its Western allies accused Russia of an unprovoked land grab.
Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka and Stefaniia Bern, Editing by Timothy Heritage and Philippa Fletcher
Credit: The Star : News Feed
