The head of the Babyn Yar reserve stated: "We know a lot about the killers, but very little about the victims."
On January 27, the world honors the memory of Holocaust victims. It was on this day in 1945 that the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front liberated prisoners from one of the largest Nazi concentration camps, Auschwitz. During World War II, the Germans exterminated 6 million Jews, nearly 1.5 million of whom were from Ukraine, according to the Institute of National Memory.
RBC-Ukraine reports on how Ukraine commemorates the victims of the Holocaust.
The Stories of Ukrainian Jews Remain Unexplored
The most executions took place in Kyiv on September 29-30, 1941, at Babyn Yar. In just these two days, the Nazis killed nearly 34,000 Jews there, and by 1943, the number of victims had risen to 65-70 thousand. Ukrainian historian Ilya Mikhailovich Levitas managed to identify 14,266 individuals by name. In addition to Jews, the Germans also executed Ukrainian nationalists and Soviet prisoners of war at the site.
"We know a lot about the executioners, but we have very little information about the victims. No one can say the exact number of Jewish deaths in Ukraine. At that time, part of Ukraine was under the control of Poland, Hungary, while the rest was part of the Soviet Union. The map of old Jewish cemeteries shows that there were many communities in western Ukraine, but after the Nazi occupation, almost none remained," says Rosa Tapanova, the director of the National Historical and Memorial Reserve "Babyn Yar."
Rosa Tapanova, Director of the National Historical and Memorial Reserve "Babyn Yar" (photo by Pavel Bezdentny, CEO of "Creative Atelier Bifurcation")
According to the reserve, in addition to the capital, Jews in Lviv suffered greatly – the Germans killed 138,000 people there, and in Odesa – more than 100,000. The Jewish population in these cities decreased fourfold and twofold, respectively. Relatives of the deceased still contact the museum to find information about those executed at Babyn Yar.
"At the end of 2023, a man asked us to find information about his nieces. It turned out that his relatives were 5 and 6-year-old sisters Polina and Malvina Babat, who were shot by the Nazis on September 29, 1941, along with their grandmother and grandfather, while their mother served in a hospital at the front. Upon her return, the woman donated a doll and a book belonging to her daughters to the museum. These items are still kept with us," Rosa recounts.
The doll and book of Polina and Malvina
The head of the reserve emphasizes that the Holocaust is not only a Jewish theme; it is a global issue. The memory of the victims and their dignified commemoration should prevent new tragedies.
"We must remember the Holocaust to understand what humanity means. However, the events of October 2023 (when militants from Hamas launched a massive rocket attack on Israeli territory – Ed.) and the world's reaction to them showed that it only took three generations for us to forget so quickly," – says Tapanova.
On the day of honoring Holocaust victims, people bring candles and stones to Jewish memorials. The candle symbolizes the memory of the deceased, while the interpretation of the significance of the stones – varies. They serve as a reminder of the Jewish temple that was destroyed, and at the same time, a stone is also a symbol of eternity – just as the memory of the deceased is eternal. In Jewish tradition, it is not customary to lay flowers at memorials and graves.
Ukrainian-Jewish Century
In anticipation of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the National Historical and Memorial Reserve "Babyn Yar" opened an exhibition titled "Ukrainian-Jewish Century: Photographs and Stories 1920-1924." The event showcased archival photographs that depict the life of Jewish communities in Ukraine before and during the German occupation. The second part of the exhibition, featuring works by American Edward Serotta and Ukrainian photographers Maxim Levin (who was shot by Russian soldiers in March 2022 near the village of Moshchun in Kyiv region) and Taras Kovalchuk, illustrates the contemporary life of Jewish communities in Ukraine.
"I have always wanted to show the history of Jews over the century because we had some distorted information. When you ask anyone who the Jews of Bakhmut were, people don’t know the answer. They don’t realize that these were their neighbors, friends, or even doctors. And when you see these photos from a century ago, you understand that Jews were always not just nearby; they were with us. And they still are... This gives us answers as to why Kyiv spoke Yiddish at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, why the inscriptions on our first money were duplicated in that language, and why we have so much common literature and history," – says Tapanova.
Edward Serotta at the exhibition opening (photo by Pavel Bezdentny, CEO of "Creative Atelier Bifurcation")
Exhibition display of the Ukrainian-Jewish Century (photo by Pavel Bezdentny, CEO of "Creative Atelier Bifurcation")
Tilda Galpert (standing on the left) is the only survivor from her family. Tilda's brother Aron (sitting on the left) died in a Soviet prison, her mother Helena, sister Margarita Weiss with her son Alexander, and brother Samuel perished in Auschwitz (photo from the exhibition: RBC-Ukraine)
The exhibition showcases 3,000 photos and 260 mini-interviews that illustrate how the two nations lived side by side for a century, particularly enduring their hardest trials – the Jews experienced the Holodomor alongside Ukrainians, while Ukrainians were with Jews during the Holocaust.
Those who managed to survive back then faced a new challenge in their old age – the full-scale invasion of Russia.
Jewish woman Elvira Borts hid from the Nazis in Mariupol as a child in the 1940s, and in 2022, she spent 53 days in the city under Russian bombardments, during which her cousin grandson Mark Zakaloka defended "Azovstal." The woman managed to escape the occupation to Kyiv, where she waited for half a year for her relative's release from captivity.
"During the Nazi regime, Elvira was given a short haircut to disguise her Jewish identity. At that time, 39 people with the surname Borts were shot in Mariupol. During the Russian occupation, what saved us at the checkpoints was only the fact that Elvira's husband was a blockade survivor from Leningrad and was a career officer in the naval fleet during the Soviet Union. That is why the Russians did not shoot us," recounts Lyubov Borts, the wife of Elvira's brother. They escaped from besieged Mariupol together in 2022. Lyubov attended the exhibition with her grandson Mark, who was freed from captivity. Elvira passed away last year in Kyiv; her husband died even earlier.
Lyubov Borts with her grandson Mark Zakaloka and Edward Serotta (photo: Ruslan Singaevsky)
"During the war with Russia, we constantly ask ourselves whether the world is learning lessons from history? And we understand that quite often – no. The relevance of preserving the memory of the Holocaust during wartime has intensified. We feel this demand – how many more people have started coming to us. People, studying the past, find answers on how to react to today’s events. They realize they lived in illusions because history was stolen and constantly rewritten. Now they are searching for the true story," adds Tapanova.
The exhibition "Ukrainian-Jewish Century" will run until February 28 at the "Living Memory" exhibition center. Admission is free.
Ukrainians Among the Righteous Among the Nations
During the Holocaust, many representatives of other nationalities saved Jews. Such individuals are referred to as Righteous Among the Nations. Israel and the Yad Vashem Holocaust History Memorial recognize more than 28,000 rescuers of Jews, of which over 2,700 are Ukrainians.
"As experts from Yad Vashem emphasize, these numbers only indicate that so many stories of rescue have passed verification by researchers and the commission. This verification can take years, and the commission includes historians who survived the Holocaust and rabbis," says Margarita Yakovleva, founder of the "Word of the Righteous" project. The project records testimonies of people who saved Jews during the Holocaust.
The decision of the commission to grant a person the title of Righteous Among the Nations is signed by the Supreme Court Judge of Israel. Some verifications can last up to 20 years due to the lack of necessary confirmations. However, even if there is currently