Today at 20:08
On the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the mass shootings in Babyn Yar in Kyiv, Volodymyr Zelenskyy laid flowers at the monument to the people executed by the Nazis in Babyn Yar and installed an icon lamp at the foot of the Menorah memorial sign.
This is reported by UA with a link to the website of the Office of President of Ukraine.
The ceremony was also attended by the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak.
The memory of the victims was honored with a minute of silence.
Flowers from the president were laid at the monument to the Roma executed by the Nazis, as well as at the monument to the Ukrainian poet Olena Teliha.
The head of state noted that this tragedy claimed more than 100 thousand lives and millions of crippled lives, remembering all those killed in Babyn Yar.
“Babyn Yar. Two short words that sound like two short shots, but carry long and terrible memories for generations. After all, they know and remember that, unfortunately, there were not two shots at Babyn Yar, but hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands” – said Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The President noted that today a national lesson dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the great tragedy of Babyn Yar will be held in all Ukrainian schools.
“Today, depending on age and upbringing, someone will once again, and someone for the first time, hear these two terrible words and these terrible numbers. About the fact that 80 years ago, on September 29, 1941, the Nazi invaders began mass executions in the Babyn Yar. That in the next two days they killed almost 34,000 people. About the fact that over the next two years in Babyn Yar, the Nazis, according to various estimates, executed from 100,000 to 200,000 people. In addition to Jews, there were Ukrainians and Romani, prisoners of war and patients in a psychiatric hospital. That in general, at least six million Jews became victims of the Holocaust in Europe. And that one and a half million of them, that is, every fourth killed, were from Ukraine” – the head of state emphasized.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that future generations need to know the terrible figures about the crimes of Nazism so that these terrible tragedies do not repeat in the history of mankind.
“Preserving the memory of World War II, in particular the tragedy of Babyn Yar and the Holocaust, is our duty to future generations. Honoring the memory of all those who died is our duty to previous generations” – Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted.
The head of state added that since 2019, everything is being done to turn Babyn Yar from a territory of oblivion into a worthy place in memory of hundreds of thousands of victims killed in 1941-1943.
“The tragedy of Babyn Yar, which took place in Ukraine 80 years ago, should never be repeated. Not in Ukraine. Not anywhere else in Europe. Nowhere in the world” – the President summed up.
To remind, today, September 29, is the Day of remembrance of the victims of Babyn Yar – one of the most terrible symbols of the Holocaust.
