Babyn Yar:

Babyn Yar: "They are leading us to death"

“… When we crossed the first border and heard shots, my nanny realized that we were being led to our deaths. I cried and sobbed. A German walking next to us pushed us aside and said: “Sit here” — the line of the doomed moved forward, and we stayed. We waited until darkness and fled...”, - from the memoirs of the victim of Nazism Vasyl Mikhailovsky.

“... During that day I saw terrible pictures: people were going crazy before my eyes, turning gray, there were screams and groans all around, they were shooting from machine guns all day long...” - the memoirs of Dina Pronicheva, who lost almost her entire family, but survived.

“... All the Jews of Kyiv were ordered to come to the corner of Mykhaylo Ilyenko and Dehtyarivska streets and bring money and valuables with them… I stood next to my father and held my three-year-old younger brother Petrus in my arms. We were shot right at the edge of Babyn Yar. My father fell, followed by my older sister Sima… I came to my senses in the ravine in the evening…” — from the memoirs of Raia Dashkevych.

“During the occupation of Kyiv, the place of mass shootings was the ravine, known among the population as Babyn Yar… Since I stayed at home during the entire occupation, I personally saw many cases of shootings and burning of corpses – victims of the German occupiers.” — from the testimony of Maria Lutsenko.

“I personally saw how babies were thrown into the ravine. In the ravine there were not only shot or wounded, but also living children. Then the Germans buried him, but it was noticeable how the top layer of soil was moving from the movements of the still living people...", - from the stories of Nadiya Gorbacheva, who lived near the place of execution.

Today, in 2025, we realize that most of those who miraculously survived as children in those bloody days have already passed away. However, the archives remained, the testimonies of eyewitnesses remained - people who saw with their own eyes and experienced a horror that does not fit into human imagination. Our memory also remained - alive, indelible, the kind that is passed down from generation to generation, so as to never allow a similar crime to be repeated.

The memory of Babyn Yar is not only the pain of the past. It is a warning for the present. It teaches us not to put up with xenophobia, anti-Semitism, hatred of the "other." It reminds us that indifference and silence become the basis for the most terrible crimes against humanity.

Novadays, when Ukraine and Israel are once again experiencing turbulent times, when our people are forced to fight for their own freedom and the very right to life, we especially feel the relevance of these lessons. The past seems to speak to us: "Do not let the enemy destroy you. Do not let hatred and fear destroy the world you are building."

Our duty is to preserve the memory of the victims of Babyn Yar. This means not only honoring the dead with a moment of silence or laying stones. It means actively opposing any manifestations of hostility, discrimination and violence. It means raising a generation that will choose life, dignity and freedom.

Only in this way can we truly honor the memory of the victims of the tragedy and ensure that something like this never happens again - neither in Ukraine nor in the world.

Babyn Yar: "They are leading us to death"

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