Babyn Yar Remembrance Day

September 29–30, 1941 — dates forever seared into the collective memory of Ukraine. On those days, nearly 34,000 Jews were murdered by the Nazis in the Babyn Yar ravine in Kyiv. This was one of the largest mass killings of the Holocaust, carried out in just two days. But the tragedy of Babyn Yar did not end there — it continued for years, claiming the lives of tens of thousands of people of various nationalities.

The Road to Tragedy

After the Nazi occupation of Kyiv in September 1941, the occupying authorities began the systematic extermination of the city’s Jewish population. Guided by a racist ideology and a desire to “cleanse” the city, the Nazis ordered all Jews to report to a designated collection point — under the false pretense of resettlement. People were marched to Babyn Yar, stripped of their documents, belongings, and clothing — and then executed.

Over the following years, Babyn Yar became a killing ground for prisoners of war, members of the Ukrainian resistance, psychiatric patients, Orthodox priests, Karaites, Roma, and other groups labeled "undesirable" by the Nazi regime. According to various estimates, between 70,000 and over 100,000 people were killed at Babyn Yar.

The Roma Chapter of the Tragedy

Among those murdered at Babyn Yar were members of the Roma community. Like the Jews, the Roma were targeted by Nazi racial extermination policies. They were persecuted not only because of their ethnicity but also due to their mobility, traditional way of life, and lack of permanent residence — factors that made them especially vulnerable. In Kyiv and its surrounding areas, Roma families were arrested and brought to Babyn Yar, where they were executed without trial.

The exact number of Roma victims remains unknown — many of the killings were never documented, and entire families vanished without a trace. However, it is known that Roma were among the first victims in September 1941, and the extermination of the Roma population in the Kyiv region continued in the months that followed.

For decades, the Soviet regime silenced the scale of the Babyn Yar tragedy and obscured the ethnic identity of its victims. The stories of Roma executions were mentioned even less frequently — and often not at all.

Why It Matters Today

Today, it is vital to restore the truth and speak openly about all chapters of history — Jewish, Roma, Ukrainian.

Babyn Yar is not merely a ravine or a date on the calendar. It is a memory that lives within us — a part of our shared history and identity. It stands as a stark reminder: evil has no logic, and the machinery of hatred can obliterate entire peoples. This truth echoes in our present — in today’s war, where violence and prejudice once again aim to reshape the lives of millions.

We must not only remember, but act — to ensure that every person can freely live as themselves: as a Jew, an Armenian, a Roma, a Ukrainian — on this shared Ukrainian land, which has long been home to dozens of ethnic communities.

May the memory of all those whose lives were cut short at Babyn Yar be eternal.