New symbolic synagogue at Babyn Yar massacre site unveiled on Yom HaShoah

The Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center (BYHMC) unveiled on Thursday, Holocaust Remembrance Day, the first Jewish prayer space at Babyn Yar. The symbolic synagogue structure was opened at a ceremony that included special prayers led by Ukraine & Kyiv Chief Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich alongside nine other rabbis (numbers limited due to COVID-19 restrictions in Ukraine). The event was addressed by Jewish world leaders and other dignitaries.
 Some 33,771 Jewish victims were shot at the Babyn Yar ravine by the Nazis during just two days, 29 and 30 September 1941. Tens of thousands of Ukrainians, Roma, mentally ill, and others were shot thereafter at Babyn Yar throughout the Nazi occupation of Kyiv. The estimated number of victims murdered at Babyn Yar is around 100,000, making it Europe’s largest mass grave. Designed by renowned international architect Manuel Herz, the symbolic synagogue takes its inspiration from the pop-up book and 17th and 18th-century wooden Ukrainian synagogues. It forms part of a planned wider multi-faith space for prayer and reflection, to be completed in due course. Rabbi Bleich at the synagogue in Babyn Yar (BYHMC).Rabbi Bleich at the synagogue in Babyn Yar (BYHMC).The symbolic synagogue is the first construction to be completed in the planned Babyn Yar memorial complex, which will stretch over 150 hectares, making it one of the world’s largest Holocaust memorial centers. Ilya Khrzhanovsky, BYHMC’s Artistic Director, said: “Babyn Yar is a place of memory. History is literally absorbed in the ground here. We wanted to create a space that enables the story of Babyn Yar to be closer and relevant to everyone, regardless of nationality, gender, age, or religion. People who visit this complex will inevitably find themselves exposed to and better understand the Babyn Yar tragedy. The last survivors of the Holocaust, who bear witness to those horrors, are passing away. In a short period, the direct connection to past events will disappear, future generations will lose the opportunity to know, understand, and feel what happened 80 years ago. The Babyn Yar tragedy and the tragedy of the Second World War will fade into history and become an abstract event. Our task is to avoid it.”

Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich said: “For many years, Babyn Yar has had no proper stone or memorial. I find it telling that the first structure of the Memorial will be a place for introspection and prayer designed symbolically as a Synagogue. This will help visitors relate to the mass murder that took place in Babyn Yar and not forget the spirituality or the origins of those Jews murdered on the eve of Yom Kippur and Yom Kippur itself.”Opening of a Torah scroll at Babyn Yar (BYHMC).Opening of a Torah scroll at Babyn Yar (BYHMC).Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, Holocaust survivor, former Chief Rabbi of Israel, and currently Chair of Yad Vashem, commented on the opening of the symbolic synagogue on Holocaust Remembrance Day, saying, “The world has not recovered from the Holocaust, with antisemitism on the rise across the world. This is the reason for the establishment of Holocaust memorial centers, even 80 years later. Commemorating through the establishment of a synagogue is a wonderful thing. The Nazis knew that so long as the Jewish faith exists, the Jewish people cannot be destroyed.” The symbolic synagogue was presented in an online ceremony attended by dignitaries including Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschko; Natan Sharansky, Chair of BYHMC’s Supervisory Board; Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel; Rabbi David Lau, Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel; Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, Holocaust survivor, former Chief Rabbi of Israel, and currently President of Yad Vashem; Yoel Leon, Israel’s Ambassador to Ukraine; Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich Chief Rabbi of Ukraine & Kyiv and BYHMC Supervisory Board member; Dan S. Mariaschin, CEO of B’nai B’rith International; Mark B. Levin, Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of the National Coalition Supporting Euro-Asian Jewry and Yaakov Hagoel, Chair of the World Zionist organization. Source

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