The bell tolls for Babyn Yar

The Babyn Yar tragedy was brief and horrible: 65 years ago in the space of just two days, Sept. 29-30, 1941, the Nazis massacred almost 32,000 innocent victims here. A week and a half later, thousands of other men, women, old persons and children were driven here, and the story was repeated.

The Nazi machine of genocide was reaping its terrible harvest not only in Ukraine. One after the other, trains filled with people doomed to a harrowing death arrived at dozens of concentration camps throughout Europe. But it was in Kyiv that Nazism chose to commit a crime that made humanity shudder.

I know many World War II veterans who witnessed Nazi atrocities more than once. Some of them survived the Darnytsia prison camp, which claimed about 68,000 Soviet citizens. But even they admit that the history of Babyn Yar is the story of hell on earth.

Babyn Yar is our common pain. All kinds of people, including Dnipro Flotilla servicemen, communist partisans, and ordinary passersby rounded up by chance were shot here. Among the victims was Olena Teliha, a superb poetess and true daughter of the Ukrainian nation.

Nevertheless, Babyn Yar’s greatest pain is that of the Jewish people. Babyn Yar and the Holocaust are links in the same chain and factors of the same magnitude. This is one mourning toll — both tragic and majestic. Does it not remind us of the millions of victims of Hitler’s racial theory that was aimed at wiping an entire nation off the face of the earth?

Babyn Yar reminds us and warns us that something that is improbable at first glance can soon assume sinister shape and that it is unacceptable to ignore the lessons of history.

When I am abroad, I always emphasize that our state is an example of the fact that the so-called nationalities question can exist in a purely theoretical definition. Throughout the modern history of Ukraine, since the proclamation of its independence, we have worked with absolute attentiveness in order to preserve interethnic peace. As a result, there have been no serious manifestations of racial discrimination or interethnic conflicts in Ukraine.

Ukrainians’ tolerance and respect for the traditions and cultures of other nations, different faiths and life philosophies are a magnificent treasure bestowed on us by God and cherished by the people throughout the ages.

Unfortunately, some politicians try to play on ethnic feelings because they think this subject is ideally suited to public reflections on the leading role of “genetic” Ukrainians in the consolidation of our statehood. From time to time you can hear such statements even on television.

The Ukrainian government attaches great importance to ensuring the rights of ethnic minorities, including the Jewish community. Some measures aimed at preserving its traditions and cultural achievements are funded by the state budget. The same approach applies to other communities — Tatar, Gagauz, Polish, etc. Our policy is based on the firm conviction that despite the absence of any serious problems in the sphere of interethnic relations, the latter should not be allowed to drift out of focus.

Interethnic relations and the issue of language and cultural heritage are extremely delicate and sensitive problems. Used as instruments in a political struggle, they can produce a totally unexpected effect and turn into an uncontrolled chain reaction releasing a mass of energy that nobody will ever be able to harness.

The government regards interethnic harmony as an inalienable part of national security — no less important than energy or ecology.

Our policy is based on the firm assumption that no ethnic minority, irrespective of its size, should feel as if it were an undesirable guest on Ukrainian soil. Slogans like “Each to his own for his own” are not part of our program or our ideology.

Undoubtedly, there is a problem of underfunding for some government programs in this area. Having opted for a united Europe, where ethnic minorities in EU member states are of special concern to governments, thus far we cannot boast that these matters are adequately reflected in the budget. Nevertheless, we are trying to find the funds to support a variety of educational programs, publications of ethnic societies, and culture festivals, as well as to assist and maintain contacts with the historical homeland.

Since our government considers accelerated economic development to be our top priority, we expect to earmark much larger funds for these needs in the 2007 state budget, thereby drawing closer to EU norms and standards.

The language question remains very important. Unfortunately, having been historically divided into two parts, Ukrainian society is still unable to bridge the split that emerged as a result of the failure or unwillingness of some politicians to understand the objective reason behind this phenomenon. This creates the paradoxical situation where some politicians, who use two languages in real life, deny the Russian language the right to function at a level that would satisfy millions of residents in the south-eastern regions.

However, there has been certain progress in this area, too. Since we are responsible politicians, we are making serious compromises that will defuse tensions and turn this problem into a subject of broad public debate. It is on this path that we expect finally to reach mutual understanding, as we did by signing the Declaration of National Unity.

It is no coincidence that I am speaking about this on the eve of the 65th anniversary of Babyn Yar. History teaches that great tragedies have often started from seemingly small and insignificant things, such as attractive utopias, political speculations, and populist flattery to nationalists. Leaders emerged, who pointed an accusing finger at the enemy that stood in the way of the movement towards general well-being and prosperity.

Babyn Yar did not emerge on its own — its precursors were the first Nazi rallies, the first instances of connivance with the dark forces that were dormant in German society, waiting for the day and the hour when they would be allowed to crawl out of oblivion.

We must tell the younger generation, which, luckily, does not remember the ravages of war, the truth about Babyn Yar. Young people should be given access to the proceedings of the Darmstadt Trial that convicted the participants of the Babyn Yar massacre. We must find words that will not only arouse interest, horror, and shame in young people, but also reinforce faith in their strength and love for their neighbor, and strengthen the feeling of patriotism and respect for other nations.

The truth about Babyn Yar sounds like a challenge to life itself. It is terrible not only because of the amount of bled shed by the murdered innocents but also the attempts to hush up this tragedy. But this is our history; we have no right to revise it, and that is why Babyn Yar should be known, so that in 65 years’ time our descendants will stand reflectively near the monument to the victims of this tragedy just as we are standing today.