The capitals of many countries of the world, such as Holland, Germany, Austria, USA, Israel, have memorials to perpetuate the memory of the Holocaust victims. And in Kyiv, where one of the largest and most horrible acts of genocide took place, such a memorial center is still absent. During the Kyiv Jewish Forum 2020, the mayor of the capital Vitali Klitschko stated the need to open the Memorial in Babyn Yar as soon as possible.
“This is not just a city or national project; this is a global project,” Klitschko noted. There is no Memorial in the city where more than 100 thousand Jews have been murdered! I see my mission in building the Babyn Yar Memorial, to perpetuate the memory of the victims and secure the understanding that this should never happen again.”
Although the Memorial is scheduled to open in 2026, Klitschko hopes that this will happen earlier, already in 2 years. He also supported the idea of renaming the nearest Dorohozhychi metro station to “Babyn Yar”, but the final decision should be made by the deputies of the Kyiv City Council.
“It is very important to explain to people and especially to children the history of Babyn Yar and the Holocaust. This Memorial has to be built in memory of thousands of people. It is necessary to explain to the new generation what happened, why it is important to remember and how to avoid mistakes of the past,” Klitschko explained.
The Mayor of Kyiv expressed hope that the Artistic Director of the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center Ilya Khrzhanovsky will be able to reach out to all audiences and convey this message. “It has to bring out emotions. After all, we are not talking just about one more memorial – there are already many of them all over the world, but about the fact that it should give special lessons,” Klitschko stressed.
According to him, there are many discussions about the project now, but there is no need to be afraid of criticism: “As the mayor of Kyiv I say: if you do something, you will be criticized. But we must complete the project of the Memorial as soon as possible. We must develop a concept that will reach out to every visitor. I will do my best to implement this project within the shortest possible terms.”
President of the Jewish Confederation of Ukraine Boris Lozhkin mentioned that the construction of the Memorial in Babyn Yar would be one of the topics for discussion at the Kyiv Jewish Forum 2020. KJF 2020 takes place online on September 8-9. The forum was organized by the Jewish Confederation of Ukraine in partnership with the Jerusalem Post. The first Kyiv Jewish Forum was held in 2019 in Kyiv and brought together over 500 participants.