Recently, representatives from Jewish communities across Ukraine met with Israeli Minister Ze’ev Elkin, as part of official events marking the 85th anniversary of the Babyn Yar massacre.
The special meeting, held at the Nativ Israeli Cultural Center in Kyiv, included Alon Shoham and Gennady Polishchuk from Nativ, Israeli Ambassador to Ukraine Roi Rozenblit, and other diplomats and community representatives along with Minister Elkin. The gathering provided a forum to discuss the significant needs of Ukraine’s Jewish communities, regarding the daily challenges and the upcoming winter.
Rabbi Simcha Levenhartz, Director of JRNU, participated in the important discussion which carried deep personal meaning: his great-grandmother was among those murdered at Babyn Yar. “We continue in our grandmother’s path,” he told Minister Elkin, referring to the generations that have continued to build Jewish life in Ukraine.
Babyn Yar, a ravine in Kyiv, became one of the most enduring symbols of the Holocaust. On September 29–30, 1941, Nazi forces murdered 33,771 Jews in just two days; the site continued to be used for mass killings throughout the war, and historians estimate that approximately 100,000 people were murdered at Babyn Yar between 1941 and 1943.
During the meeting, the Israeli delegation expressed their appreciation for the work of community leaders who continue providing humanitarian assistance and spiritual support to thousands of Jews throughout Ukraine.
Together we save lives and restore hope.
