Sep 29, 2025
Because, as we all know, history is cyclical, but it is written by people who make their own choices.
Today, together with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, rabbis from Ukrainian cities, and ambassadors from various countries, I took part in the 84th anniversary commemoration of the victims of Babiy Yar.
Eighty-four years ago, in September 1941, Hitler's Nazis shot more than 34,000 Jews in Kyiv in just two days. In total, more than 200,000 people of different nationalities and religions were killed in Babiy Yar, but most of them were Jews.
We prayed for the souls of all those innocently killed, and I want to remind the whole world: the memory of the Babiy Yar is a call to never again tolerate or stand aside when such evil occurs, and not just an annual memorial ceremony.
Because, as we all know, history is cyclical, but it is written by people who make their own choices.
