Holocaust Remembrance Day at Babyn Yar

“We know and remember that indifference kills along with hatred,” said Zelensky

Ukrainian President marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day at the Babyn Yar memorial near Kyiv along with international officials and Jewish leaders on Friday.

Senior government officials, ambassadors, MPs, Ukrainian Chief Rabbi Moshe Azman and Rabbi Steven Burg, CEO of Aish HaTorah, were also present at the prayer and candle-lighting ceremony.

The ceremony was organized by the Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine in collaboration with the Holocaust Commemoration Center in Babyn Yar and the Babyn Yar National Historical Remembrance Center.

Zelensky stated “We know and remember that indifference kills along with hatred. Indifference and hatred are always capable of creating evil together only. That is why it is so important that everyone who values life should show determination when it comes to saving those whom hatred seeks to destroy.”

“These days, it is more important than ever to remind ourselves of the universal lessons of the Holocaust,” said the Chairman of the Federation Council, Rabbi Meir Stambler. “We must not forget the terrible crime against humanity that occurred years ago and we must stop the history of the Holocaust from being transmitted in a distorted way.”

Rabbi Raphael Rothman said a special memorial prayer at the end of the ceremony.

The massacre at Babyn Yar

Over 33,000 Jews and tens of thousands of Ukrainians, Roma, Soviets and the physically and mentally disabled were executed by the Nazis and their collaborators at Babyn Yar in 1941. All of the victims were buried in a mass grave at the site.