March of Life in Kyiv

Over 200 Germans came to Ukraine to hold the March of Life to mark the 69th anniversary of the Babyn Yar tragedy, and ask forgiveness for the acts of their ancestors against Jews in World War II, reports the Ukrainian News agency.

The participants walked along the so-called death path from the movie theater Kyivska Rus’ on Melnykova Str. and from the Syretsky Park, to the Babyn Yar memorial complex, where they were met by the Jews who had suffered from the Nazis and who came there together with their descendants.

In the words of the organizer ­Jobst Bittner, 40 out of 200 Germans who participated had ancestors that served in the Wehrmacht or SS. “The families of these people did not tell them about wartime events and the involvement of family members in the Holocaust…

That is why we consider it our duty to ask forgiveness for the crimes committed by our ancestors and raise our voice against anti-Semitism,” he said. The first March of Life was held in 2007 in southern Germany near the former concentration camp Dachau.

Representatives of the Jewish community emphasized the importance of this kind of event. In addition, they highlighted the need to create a full-fledged preserve in Babyn Yar, as well as a museum devoted to the tragic events which took place there. We remind that over 100,000 Kyivans and prisoners of war of various ethnic backgrounds and denominations were shot in Babyn Yar, in Kyiv.