A powerful program is being prepared for Babyn Yar 80th anniversary – Yermak

The head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andrii Yermak notes that the state is preparing a serious action plan in connection with the 80th anniversary of the Babyn Yar tragedy.

He announced this at a briefing of the co-chairs of the Organizing Committee for Perspective Development of the "Babyn Yar" National Historical and Memorial Reserve, according to the press service of the OPU.

"It's very important for us that after 80 years since this terrible tragedy took place, and on the 30th year of Ukraine's independence, President Volodymyr Zelenskyi has become the one who's finally taken personal control of this issue. And we've really started building the Holocaust Memorial Center 'Babyn Yar,' the first phase of which will be opened this year," Andrii Yermak said.

According to him, the Head of State set a task to complete the memorial within a few years and start working as a museum complex.

"Historical justice and historical memory, without which humanity cannot develop, are really very important for Ukraine. This is a global event to emphasize once again that such tragedies should not be repeated. On the other hand, it will once again demonstrate that Ukraine is a country of tolerance, a peaceful country, and this sounds special to us today, when, unfortunately, the war has been going on in Ukraine for seven years, and we're doing everything to bring peace to our land, return our territories to stop our heroes from dying," the head of the President's Office said.

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that shortly the government intended to approve an Action Plan in connection with the 80th anniversary of the Babyn Yar tragedy.

He noted that the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy was in charge of preparing for the mourning events. Prime Minister is convinced that there should be a consolidation of the efforts of charitable organizations, the state, and scientists to honor the memory of the victims.

Natan Sharansky, chairman of the supervisory board of the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center, stressed that the planned measures were an opportunity to correct a historical injustice when the tragedy of Babyn Yar was silenced for many years during the Soviet era.

The head of the academic council of the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center, Father Patrick Desbois, noted that for the first time on the planet, such a large memorial was being built on a mass grave.

"A strong team is working on this project, it's supported by the President of Ukraine, which is very important," he said.

The Ukrainian authorities, together with the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Charitable Foundation, are preparing a powerful program dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Babyn Yar tragedy. On October 6, 2021, an official ceremony will be held in Babyn Yar with the participation of world leaders, activists of Jewish organizations who survived the Holocaust, and Ukrainians who saved Jews from death during the Nazi occupation and received the title of Righteous Among the Nations.

Together with the Holocaust Memorial in Babyn Yar, it is planned to open a "Kurgan" museum-memorial object, which will house a large 3D model of Babyn Yar with the events of 1941, built by the German architectural bureau SUB and the Ukrainian Center for Spatial Technology. It is also planned to open the memorial object "Crystal Wailing Wall," the author of which is a famous artist Marina Abramović, and the Ukrainian premiere of Sergei Loznitsa's film "Babyn Yar. Context." All these projects are being implemented together with the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial.

"We tell the story of Babyn Yar by creating a museum complex that covers the entire territory where one of the greatest Holocaust tragedies took place. It will be a place of memory, learning, and reflection. We create it so that each visitor can experience their own journey, feel a connection with the lost past and even with the actually lost life," the art director of the Holocaust Memorial Center "Babyn Yar" Illia Khrzhanovskyi emphasized.