55th anniversary of Babyn Yar massacre is marked in Kyiv (10/13/96)

55th anniversary of Babyn Yar massacre is marked in Kyiv

On September 29, President Leonid Kuchma along with a host of Ukrainian dignitaries and international diplomats gathered at Babyn Yar in Kyiv to commemorate 55 years since the Nazis began their massacre of more than 150,000 people. The first executions of more than 3,000 people took place on September 29-30, 1941; the killings continued into 1943. Those executed were primarily Jews but also included prisoners of war, Ukrainian partisans and nationalists, as well as gypsies. Present at the gathering (as seen in the photo below), besides Mr. Kuchma (center), were Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko (left), First Deputy Chairman of Parliament Oleksander Tkachenko (right) and the ambassadors of the U.S., Russia and Israel. Immediately afterwards (as seen in the photo on the right), students from Solomon University in Kyiv held their own commemoration, laying a wreath at the Babyn Yar memorial.