On January 27, the All-Ukrainian Holocaust Remembrance Action "Six Million Hearts" was held in the Kyiv City State Administration Column Hall. The National Historic-Memorial Reserve “Babyn Yar”, the Jewish Forum of Ukraine, the Jewish Foundation of Ukraine named after Arkady Monastyrsky organized the exhibition “History of Jews in Ukraine and the Holocaust”. Relatives of the victims and representatives of diplomatic missions gathered in the city administration building.
Six candles to commemorate the six million Holocaust victims were lit by Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko together with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the State of Israel Joel Lyon, US Charge d'Affaires in Ukraine Christina Quinn, British Ambassador to Ukraine Melinda Simmons, diplomats and representatives of diplomatic missions in Ukraine, in particular, Canada, Belgium, Latvia, Sweden, former prisoners of ghettoes and concentration camps, Righteous Among the Nations, representatives of Jewish youth organizations, employees of the National Historic-Memorial Reserve “Babyn Yar” Andrii Tkachuk, Mykhailo Gutor, Arthur Zolotarenko, David Chubinashvili, and Vladimir Kornelyuk.
“It is crucial to remember these horrific events and to do our utmost to ensure that such tragedies never happen again. And the guarantee of that is our memory and the lessons we take from history. So, in order to preserve this memory, every school of Kyiv today has a lesson in memory of that tragedy in Babyn Yar when more than 100,000 people were killed in Kyiv on ethnic grounds,” Vitali Klitschko said.
According to the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the State of Israel Joel Lyon, 1.5 million Jews were killed in Ukraine alone.
“Every fourth victim of this disaster was killed here in Ukraine. They didn't even have a chance to hope that an army would come to save them. They were not only stripped of their clothes, but they also did not feel any manifestation of humanity,” the Ambassador said. He noted that the Ukrainian authorities make a lot of efforts to combat anti-Semitism.
Today in all regional centres of Ukraine there are memorial, cultural and educational events dedicated to the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
In 2005, a resolution of the UN General Assembly adopted proclamation the Day of Holocaust Remembrance on 27 January. The memory of the Holocaust has been celebrated annually in Ukraine since 2012.
