Ceremony at Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Centre. Photo Credit: BYHMC 

On September 29-30, on the 83rd anniversary of the Babyn Yar massacre, The Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center and the All Ukrainian Association of Jews-Former Prisoners of Ghetto and Nazi Concentration Camps, jointly organized a march and a commemoration event.

The Memorial March, joined by over 1500 people, followed the route taken by almost 34,000 Jews 83 years ago, as they were led to the firing squads on September 29-30, 1941.

Between 100,000 and 150,000 people, including Jews,  Roma,  Ukrainian civilians, and Soviet POWs, were murdered at Babyn Yar during the course of the German occupation until the Soviets regained control of Kyiv in 1943.

Babyn Yar is the largest mass grave in Europe and the symbol of the “Holocaust by Bullets” in which Nazi Germany and their local collaborators murdered over 2 million Jews across Eastern Europe from 1941-1943.

Natan Sharansky, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center, said: “This year’s ceremony commemorating the anniversary of the Babyn Yar tragedy has a special significance. Because it takes place in the context of Israel’s war with the forces of evil, which are once again trying to destroy the Jewish people. And this ceremony takes place in Ukraine, while it is fighting for its national existence against the forces of evil. We enter this new Jewish year determined and confident in the unconditional and complete victory over our enemy as we have defeated all other enemies in the past. Shana tova! עם ישראל חי”.

Memorial March to Babyn Yar. Photo Credit: BYHMC