81 years later: Ukraine commemorates the Babi Yar massacre

by time news

“War is a terrible thing. We do not want to make a comparison to the terrible tragedy that happened to the Jewish people in the Holocaust and the brutal massacre that was carried out here in Babi Yar eighty-one years ago. But everyone must be taught the lesson that we must not be silent in the face of evil and must cooperate together to stop it.”

The top of the Ukrainian government together with foreign diplomats serving in Kiev, participated today in the main annual event to mark the 81st anniversary of the Babi Yar massacre in which tens of thousands of Jews from Kiev were murdered along with Gypsies and other Ukrainian citizens.

Mayor Vitaly Klitschko, Minister of Culture Oleksandr Tukchenko, Chief Emissary Rabbi of Kyiv Rabbi Jonathan Markovich, ambassadors of the USA, Spain, Germany, Poland, Belgium and other countries participated in the event, which is organized by the Kyiv municipality.

The chief rabbi of Kyiv, the apostle Rabbi Yonatan Markowitz, said at the event: “As a member of a family that lost many in the Holocaust and as a representative of the Jewish community in Kyiv, I am here today with one message to the entire world: You must not remain silent in the face of evil. In Judaism there is a commandment to remember every day “what Amalek did to you “. The Holocaust was an event that shook the world, but even today this message must be remembered and must not be allowed to be forgotten.

War is a terrible thing. The terrible tragedy that happened to the Jewish people in the Holocaust and the cruel massacre that was carried out here in Babi Yar eighty-one years ago, should be engraved on the hearts of all of us. Today, when Ukraine is at war for its identity, we need to remember this message. We do not make a comparison between what happened then, and what is happening today in Ukraine. But everyone must teach the lesson that we must not be silent in the face of evil and must cooperate together to stop it.”

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