Last week, a memorial service was held in Kyiv, Ukraine, to honor the 33,771 Jews massacred by the Nazis, 83 years ago. The annual event, remembering the atrocities committed at Babi Yar, a ravine just outside the capital city, is part of the commitment to never forget the horrors of the Holocaust. Several notable dignitaries attended, including Miki Zohar, Israeli Minister of Culture and Sports, Israel’s Ambassador to Ukraine Mr. Michael Brodsky, and Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael Ukraine Chairman Mr. Yonatan Ben-Dor. Rabbi Yonatan Markovich, Chief Rabbi of Kyiv, led a prayer service, and a briefing was provided regarding community efforts to provide humanitarian aid, Jewish education, and support for children with special needs. Over the past 2½ years, we have worked closely with Rabbi Markovich and other leaders to sustain the community with food, medicine, clothing, household items and other critical needs.
Before the Germans invaded Ukraine in 1941, 160,000 Jews resided in Kyiv, representing approximately 20 percent of the city’s total population. By June 1941, when the Germans occupied the Capital, most of the Jews had fled, leaving behind 60,000 women, children, elderly, and the infirm, who had been unable or unwilling to flee. The tragedy at Babi Yar, on September 29-30, was one of the largest mass shootings at a single location in all of World War II. We must never forget.
We continue to support the Jewish community in Kyiv along with all the other communities across the country. We are looking forward to hosting tens of thousands of people at upcoming Yom Kippur services.
With your help, we continue to save lives and restore hope.
