Israeli Minister Zeev Elkin Visits the Babyn Yar National Historical and Memorial Reserve

On November 12, Israeli Minister Zeev Elkin visited the Babyn Yar National Historical and Memorial Reserve as part of his official visit to Ukraine.

Accompanied by Alon Shoham, head of the Israeli governmental organization Nativ and members of the Israeli delegation, Minister Elkin learned about the Reserve’s ongoing work, including preparations for the 85th anniversary of the Babyn Yar tragedy.

Rosa Tapanova, Director of the Reserve, guided the delegation through the site and presented its main projects.

“We strive to ensure that the memory of Babyn Yar remains alive and meaningful for younger generations. Education and culture are the means through which we pass this memory forward,” said Tapanova.

Minister Elkin also visited the exhibition «State of Deception: The Power of Nazi Propaganda», developed in collaboration with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) in Washington, D.C.

«Propaganda is a dangerous weapon. The memory of the Holocaust and the tragedy of Babyn Yar must teach us to recognize falsehood and resist it», Minister Elkin emphasized.

Students from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv joined the event. Historian Yurii (Amir) Radchenko delivered a lecture on Nazi propaganda between 1920 and 1945.

During the visit, Minister Elkin lit a memorial candle at the Menorah monument honoring the victims of Babyn Yar, and together with representatives of JNL-KKL planted the 84th tree on the Alley of Remembrance, a project initiated in 2021.

Director Tapanova also presented to the guests the murals by artist Matvii Vaisberg and the newly opened open-air cinema, a space for memorial, educational, and cultural events.

“It is vital for us to create living forms of remembrance — ones that help us speak about the past in the language of today”, Tapanova concluded.

The visit was organized jointly with the Nativ Cultural Center as part of the international initiative “The Year of Agnon”.