Israeli and German Ambassadors to Fight Evil with Memory
“You cannot appease evil, you must fight evil,” Anna Azari, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Israel, noted addressing a press conference on the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of the Babyn Yar outrage. Six decades ago on September 29 the Nazis began an operation in Kyiv, resulting in the murder of the tens of thousands of Soviet citizens, including Jews, Ukrainians, Russians, and Poles. The Israeli Embassy has rightly decided to commemorate the victims of Babyn Yar and the Holocaust together with the German Embassy. “Whoever does not remember the Babyn Yar tragedy becomes a criminal forever. Whoever does remember ensures that the sacrifices once made will not become sacrifices for the second time, sinking into oblivion,” stressed German Ambassador Dietmar Studemann at the press conference.
The German and Israeli diplomats agreed that the remembrance of Babyn Yar victims should be interpreted in a broader aspect, especially, as Mr. Studemann said, after “the unbelievable acts of terror against the United States people last week... This attack, made against the whole civilized world, can be compared only with the Nazi attack,” the German ambassador stated.
“We can only be optimistic when we react to evil,” Ms. Azari complemented her counterpart, noting that “we will fight evil to enable humanity to survive.”
In connection with terrorist acts in the United States and the likely American military retaliation, the German ambassador announced that his country “will participate in any kind of response.” Yet, the ambassador specified later that “the forms of response” would depend on the decision of NATO, of which Germany is a member (all members of the North Atlantic alliance declared last week they would support any retaliatory actions Washington might take).
The Israeli ambassador sounded more diplomatic, pointing out that the United States itself has not yet announced its future course of action. Nonetheless, Ms. Azari confirmed her country’s intention to take part in an international antiterrorist coalition.
In order to “defeat evil,” the Israeli and German embassies have organized a series of functions in Kyiv devoted to the anniversary of the Babyn Yar tragedy. Among them is the exhibition of prominent Israeli artist Sarah Atzmon; a concert at the National Philharmonic House with Professor Roman Kaufman conducting; and a number of Bravo and Podil theaters’ productions based on plays by Israeli authors.
