Yesterday in Kiev there was a commemoration at Babiy Yar, the infamous gorge in which tens of thousands of Ukraine’s Jews were murdered by the invading German army in 1941. (Later on in the occupation, Babi Yar was also used to massacre gypsies, other Ukrainians and Russian prisoners of war.) President Viktor Yuschenko and the presidents of Israel and Croatia all gathered for an event attended by thousands of Ukrainians. A quick taxi ride turned into an hour-long odyssey as traffic all over the city was at a standstill for hours as the scale of the commemoration was so huge.
It’s a sign of how radically things here have changed in the past fifteen years. Under the Soviet regime, the plaques marking mass murders of Jews during World War II paid tribute only to the Soviet citizens killed by fascist invaders. In a Soviet Union that wished to suppress ethnic or religious distinctions, there was no room to acknowledge the particular suffering of Ukraine’s Jews. Uncle Joe’s raging anti-Semitism may have had something to do with it too.
Sixty five years ago this morning, the following notices appeared all over Kiev:
“All Jews living in the city of Kiev and its vicinity are to report by 8 o'clock on the morning of Monday, September 29, 1941, to the corner of Melnikovsky and Dokhturov Streets (near the cemetery). They are to take with them documents, money, valuables, as well as warm clothes, underwear, etc. Any Jew not carrying out this instruction and who is found elsewhere will be shot. Any civilian entering flats evacuated by Jews and stealing property will be shot.”