What the Majestic Pine-Trees Of Bykivnia Are Silent About

The Day’s editors have received a letter from a Kyiv chemical engineer Artur Yeremenko, in which he makes a pessimistic conclusion about “the Bykivnia affair.” As Den/The Day has more than once broached this subject, we remind our readers that as long ago as in 1989, the fourth (!) governmental commission of Soviet Ukraine at last admitted the following fact: the Bykivnia woods outside Kyiv is a mass grave of the “public enemies” who were interrogated and tortured in Kyiv jails, then shot dead and brought here to be buried. The case is still open — while official reports say 6,783 people were buried at Bykivnia, the Kyiv-based Memorial names the figure of tens of thousands of our compatriots. Polish researchers also claim that about 5,000 Polish officers shot dead in the spring of 1940 found their last refuge here. According to Mr. Yeremenko, the independent Ukraine’s government resolution “On Establishing the Bykivnia Graves State Historical and Memorial Sanctuary” is in fact being flouted. For the sake of impartiality Den/The Day requested the Kyiv City Administration to comment on this letter. It is up to the readers to judge if this answer puts the record straight.

The Bykivnia Woods is not only a green belt on the north-eastern outskirts of Kyiv, but also a place of tragedy and the witness of secret burials of many thousands of people wiped out by the Stalinist terror in 1937-1941. It is only the silent pine-trees that have been guarding their peace for more than 60 years. The trees and the memorial cross put up in this mournful place seem to be standing a guard of honor over the graves of innocent people killed by the Bolshevik despotism. For years on end, these trees saw a group of predominantly elderly people walking here in every May to honor the memory of the victims of human savagery, whose ashes still rest in the Bykivnia soil under a layer of grass. These slender pine-trees have also seen the following:

— the wild satanic raids of graveyard marauders and frequent desecration of the statue of a prisoner and the memorial cross by present-day vandals;

— a daring foray of Polish thrill- seeking “experts” in political intrigues, and the instances of foreign nationals honoring the memory of the victims of Bolshevik executions;

— a visit to the Bykivnia burial ground by Pope John Paul II and observance of the Bykivnia Days by former premier Viktor Yushchenko and Kyiv Mayor Oleksandr Omelchenko.

However, neither the presence of high officials at these mournful ceremonies nor even the governmental resolution “On Establishing the Bykivnia Graves State Historical and Memorial Sanctuary” (May, 2001) had any essential effect on the current condition of the Bykivnia burials. There is no evident progress in the implementation of this resolution, although the burials received an official name owing to the latter. But can the name alone help establish what is known as a “state sanctuary?” What about the Bykivnia graves? Like in the previous years, they still lie desolate and uncared-for, i.e., exist on their own, so to speak.

This raises a natural, if rhetorical, question: how come the relevant power-wielding bodies have been ignoring a Ukrainian governmental resolution for years on end? Are the responsible executives of these bodies aware that their indifference to the historical memory of the Ukrainian people borders on downright scorn? What is more, it is these functionaries who are supposed to first of all keep and cherish the memory of their own people’s tragic past. Unfortunately, this does not happen in reality. It is therefore worth reminding our powers-that-be of the well-known postulate that a people without historical memory cannot be called a nation.

And as long as the already two- year-old resolution on the Bykivnia sanctuary still remains on paper, our people’s tragic past will be doomed to further oblivion, while the mournful burial ground of the victims of the inhuman Bolshevik regime will only hear, as before, the uncanny whisper of Bykivnia pine-trees...

COMMENT BY THE KYIV CITY ADMINISTRATION

The department of the protection of historical and cultural monuments at the Kyiv City Administration has positively considered The Day ’s request to comment on the letter by Kyiv’s resident Arthur Yeremenko. We hereby inform you that the letter’s author unfairly accuses the governing bodies of ignoring the Cabinet of Ministers’ resolution on establishing the Bykivnia Graves State Historical and Memorial Sanctuary.

A sanctuary of this magnitude cannot be established without a great deal of preliminary work. Please note that, in compliance with the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine’s resolution No. 546 of May 22, 2001, “On Establishing the Bykivnia Graves State Historical and Memorial Sanctuary,” the Kyiv City Administration (hereinafter KCA) began to draw up a Provision on the sanctuary, already coordinated with the State Construction Committee of Ukraine, the Ministry of Culture and Arts of Ukraine, and the State Interdepartmental Commission on the Immortalization of the Victims of Wars and Political Reprisals. The draft Provision is now being discussed with the Ministry of Finance.

After the Provision is approved, the KCA will begin working, as the law prescribes, on establishing the Bykivnia Graves State Historical and Memorial Sanctuary. To do so, we must carry out exploratory and prospecting work, draw up a feasibility report and a master construction and development plan that would show the cost, priority, and deadlines of the construction of facilities. This will allow identifying the scope and sources of funding the sanctuary.

The Kyiv City Administration emphasizes that the Bykivnia Graves State Historical and Memorial Sanctuary is being established with maximal transparency and in compliance with the aforesaid resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.

The memorial complex to honor victims of the 1930s repression was built in 1995 in pursuance of the President of Ukraine’s instruction No. 98/94-rn of August 11, 1994, “On Measures to Immortalize the Memory of the Victims of Political Reprisals Buried at the Village of Bykivnia.” The project was conceived by architects Mykola Kysly and Ruslan Kukharenko, and sculptor Volodymyr Chepelyk. The memorial complex was built at governmental expense. The project was ordered by the Committee for the Protection and Restoration of Historical and Cultural Monuments (now the Department for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments of the City of Kyiv), while the Ukrrestavratsiya production association (now the Ukrrestavratsiya corporation) was the general contractor. In 1999, the above-mentioned complex was put on the governmental list of historical and cultural monuments (see Department instruction No. 61 of August 20, 1999). With all the aforesaid in view, the Memorial Complex to Honor Victims of the 1930s Repression has the status of a monumental art historical monument.

By resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 1761 of December 27, 2001, the Memorial Complex to Honor Victims of the 1930s Repression was put on the State Register of Ukraine’s Immovable Monuments and the Monuments of History, Monumental Art, and Archeology of National Importance.

Faithfully yours, Liubov MAZUR,Acting Chief, Department for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments, Kyiv City Administration