The capital of Ukraine held events to commemorate the victims of WW2-era mass shootings in Babyn Yar.
An inter-religious prayer was held on September 29 by the monument to Kyivans and prisoners of war shot in Babyn Yar. It involved Head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine Metropolitan Epifaniy of Kyiv and All Ukraine, Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church His Beatitude Sviatoslav, Chief Rabbi Moshe Reuven Asman of Ukraine and Kyiv, Chief Rabbi of progressive Judaism communities of Kyiv and Ukraine Oleksandr Dukhovny, and representatives of other religious organizations.
“Traditionally, every year, late September, we remember the victims of Babyn Yar. All those innocently killed at this site. Therefore, let us say a prayer for their souls to rest in peace,” His Beatitude Metropolitan Epifaniy said, calling for a joint prayer, after which he addressed the Lord to let the souls of the victims of the mass shootings rest in peace.
The prayer and speech were delivered by Rabbi Moshe Reuven Asman.
“Hundreds of thousands of innocent people were shot dead in Babyn Yar. Today we pray for those innocent people who lie here and for the righteous who saved the Jews at the risk of their lives and their families. Metropolitan Sheptytsky also risked his life to save Jewish children. There were many such people. Every effort must be made to ensure that this tragedy never repeats itself. Children at school should be told about this, too. This should be our sacred duty,” RISU quoted him as saying.
In turn, Rabbi Oleksandr Dukhovny recalled the Ukrainians who saved his family from death.
“My mother and her younger sister were being taken to the execution site. But they managed to escape. They were rescued by the Ukrainian family, Volynets, which is in the list of Righteous Among the Nations. They gave me life, too. We are here not only to remember, but also to honor life, to make our land a land of joy and unity. And the best monument of all those who died here is a free, united, merciful, and fair Ukraine,” he said.
The head of the UGCC, Patriarch Sviatoslav, stressed in his speech that tragedies like Babyn Yar must never happen again anywhere the world.
“Let’s listen to our hearts, Ukraine and the world. On behalf of the UGCC, I express my words of prayerful solidarity to the Jewish people, our brothers, and the Jewish communities of Ukraine. I express my deepest condolences and prayer,” he said.
After the prayer, the participants and guests laid lamps and stones at the memorial in honor of the Babyn Yar victims.
It is reported that the commemorative events were organized and conducted by the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance, the Babyn Yar National Historical and Memorial Reserve, and the Institute of Ukrainian History of the National Academy of Sciences with the support of the Ukrainian World Congress.
RISU recalls that Babyn Yar is a site of remembrance that became a world-famous symbol of Nazi crimes against civilians during World War 2 and a symbol of the Holocaust.
On September 29-30, 1941, the Nazis killed almost 34,000 Kyivites at the site simply because they were Jews. It was one of the largest mass killings of civilians by the Nazis in World War 2.
Not only Jews were killed and buried in Babyn Yar. Over the two years of German occupation, those seen as “enemies” of the Nazis were shot and buried here. In particular, on racial and political grounds, the Nazis would also execute Roma, prisoners, mental clinic patients, civilian hostages, Ukrainian nationalists, and guerrillas.
The total number of victims is estimated at about 100,000, whose vast majority were Jews.
