This day was not chosen by chance, because on January 27, 1945, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front liberated the people of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. A day when the world is held accountable for crimes committed and events that cannot be forgotten.
“The Holocaust, which led to the extermination of one-third of the Jews and an innumerable number of representatives of other nationalities, will always serve as a warning to all people about the dangers that hatred, fanaticism, racism and prejudice hide in themselves…” – reads the text of the resolution of the UN General Assembly. Ukraine joined this important world honor already in 2012.
History
“We will not rest until at least one Jew walks the earth…” – the words attributed to Germany’s most brutal Fuehrer, reflect the terrible reality of the Holocaust, where the Nazis exterminated millions of Jews and national minorities. This terrible process began in Germany and spread throughout Nazi-occupied Europe. For more than a decade, from 1933 to 1945, the Nazis killed, experimented on, and tortured innocent people in numerous concentration camps such as Auschwitz and Treblinka. Conditions in these camps were brutal, with gas chambers and constant food shortages.
During World War II, Nazi policy involved the extermination of various national groups that were considered a threat or inferior. Many people became victims of this policy, including six million Jews. In addition, the Nazi regime systematically exterminated Roma, Poles, homosexuals, people with mental disorders and others.
After the end of the war, the United States, Great Britain, France and the USSR created the International Military Tribunal. In November 1945, he examined the cases of senior officials of the Third Reich, involved in the resolution of the war. The Nuremberg Tribunal determined responsibility for crimes against peace and humanity, and the defendants were deprived of their liberty or sentenced to death.
Trials also involved lower-ranking Nazis guilty of the death of Jews and other crimes against humanity. Auschwitz guards and other executioners were brought to justice before the international community for their crimes in numerous trials, and some were pursued for years by the Israeli Mossad. However, historians still admit that some of them were able to avoid punishment for their crimes.
Photo: Yad Vashem
Ukraine and the Holocaust
The Holocaust also affected Ukraine to a great extent, about 1.5 million Jews were exterminated on our territory. According to official statistics, more than two million Jews lived in Ukraine at that time, that is, more than 75% of people were brutally killed. Many of them were killed during mass shootings, which often took place near ravines on the outskirts of cities or small villages.
Already after the German troops crossed the border of Ukraine, they began their program of systematic persecution and extermination of Jews. In September 1941, terrible events took place in Babiny Yar, which is located in Kyiv. In this tract, SS Sonderkommandos shot more than 33,000 people, including small children. This act was only one of a series of murders of the Jewish population carried out by the Nazis on the territory of occupied Ukraine during the Second World War. Babyn Yar became a symbol of terrible crimes against humanity, which is known to the whole world today.
Experts have discovered that there are about 2,000 “smaller Babiny yars” in Ukraine – places where the Nazis committed mass murders of the Jewish population.
By preserving the memory of the terrible events of the Holocaust, we honor the victims and recognize the importance of preserving history in order to avoid repeating the events in the future. Together with the world, we express our grief and gratitude to those who stood and continue to stand against injustice and intolerance. Ukrainians are still fighting for the creation of a world where every person can live in dignity and peace.
Photo: Historical truth
