fbpx

Ukraine marks Babi Yar massacre anniversary

Ukraine marked the 70th anniversary of the massacre at Babi Yar, one of the deadliest of the Holocaust.
[additional-authors]
October 3, 2011

Ukraine marked the 70th anniversary of the massacre at Babi Yar, one of the deadliest of the Holocaust.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman presided over Monday’s ceremony at the Babi Yar ravine in Kiev. Some 33,771 Jews were murdered there on the last two days of September in 1941.

Hundreds of descendants of the victims, as well as survivors, participated in the ceremony.

“It is difficult to fully comprehend the events that occurred in Babi Yar. It is difficult to find the words to express all the depth of our condolences and sorrow,” Yanukovych said at the ceremony, according to a speech released to the French news agency AFP before the event. “More and more, time is increasing our distance from these horrible events. But the memory is alive.”

The Jews had assembled at the Babi Yar ravine in 1941, shortly after the Nazi forces pushed the Soviet authorities out of Kiev, because they believed they were being resettled.

Between September 1941 and 1943, some 150,000 people were executed by Nazi troops in wooded areas on the outskirts of Kiev. Most were Jews, but the total also included ethnic Ukrainians, Russians, Poles and Roma, or gypsies.

Did you enjoy this article?
You'll love our roundtable.

Editor's Picks

Latest Articles

Difficult Choices

Jews have always believed in the importance of higher education. Today, with the rise in antisemitism across many college campuses, Jewish high school seniors are facing difficult choices.

All Aboard the Lifeboat

These are excruciating times for Israel, and for the Jewish people.  It is so tempting to succumb to despair. That is why we must keep our eyes open and revel in any blessing we can find.  

More news and opinions than at a
Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.