On January 27, the world community honors the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
The catastrophe of the Jewish people, the Holocaust, is a tragic page of the world’s history, and of the history of Ukraine. At least 1.5 million people became the victims of the Nazi extermination of Jews in Ukraine — a fourth part of the Jews of Europe killed during the Shoah.
For Ukraine, the Holocaust became a wound in the national memory as Ukrainians and Jews lived together in Ukraine for centuries. One of the symbols of this tragedy, the place of mass execution of Jews in Europe, was Babyn Yar in Kyiv, where over 100,000 people — Jews, Roma, Ukrainian national elite, and prisoners of the Syrets concentration camp — were killed in 1941-1943.
Ukraine condemns crimes against humanity and attempts to justify or deny the Holocaust, we oppose all forms of anti-Semitism and xenophobia, and manifestations of intolerance.
We also strongly condemn the shameful actions of representatives of the Russian regime, which defame the memory of millions of victims of the Holocaust. Russia fosters state-sponsored anti-Semitism, promoting hatred towards other peoples.
Honoring the bright memory of the victims of the Holocaust while resisting Russia’s armed aggression, we once again emphasize that in the very heart of Europe for almost a year, a bloody repetition of the most terrible crimes in the history of mankind — an attempt to destroy an entire nation — has been taking place.
Ukrainians who survived the tragedy of the Holodomor-genocide of 1932-1933, and now find themselves under the unprovoked armed aggression of Russia, feel the pain of the Jewish people and the depth of the Holocaust’s wounds especially keenly.
The calamity of Russia’s war against Ukraine also affected the places of common sorrow of the Ukrainian and Jewish peoples. On March 1, 2022, Babyn Yar was hit by one of the rockets of the Russian invaders. As a result of the invasion of the Russian Federation, other memorials to the Jewish people, as well as Jewish cemeteries throughout Ukraine, were destroyed. Victims of the Russian Federation’s war were also Ukrainians who survived the Holocaust and Nazi occupation.
We call on the world community to take all possible measures in order to stop the ongoing crime of aggression committed by Russia against Ukraine.