President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy honored the memory of the victims of the Holocaust at the National Historical and Memorial Reserve “Babyn Yar.”
“This is a clear lesson of history: when hatred against a people is not stopped, others must not remain indifferent or stand aside. Aggression and contempt for the lives of people and entire nations must never prevail, and the protection of life must be the responsibility not only of the brave, but also of all humanity,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted.
The Head of State emphasized that honoring the memory of those who were murdered is an important signal to future generations so that the tragedy is not repeated.
“If we do not gather, if we do not remember the victims – first and foremost the victims of the Jewish people during the Holocaust, during Babyn Yar, where more than 100,000 people were killed and tortured – and millions of people around the world – if we do not do this, then fascism has a chance to be born, to be reborn in one country or another, and to wage war against humanity. Against the most important thing – against life,” the President said.
More than 50 representatives of foreign diplomatic missions and international organizations, as well as Ukrainian rabbis, took part in the event.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the diplomats present and their countries for supporting Ukraine.
“Ukraine is walking a very difficult path, but a path that is certainly toward justice. Thank you. And let us honor the memory of all – absolutely all – victims: adults, the elderly, children – everyone who was tortured by the fascist regime,” the Head of State said.
It was on January 27, 1945, that the last prisoners of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau were liberated. More than one million people were killed there, the majority of them Jews. In 2005, the UN General Assembly designated January 27 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
