Statement of the Jewish Confederation of Ukraine
Referring to his “Jewish friends,” speaking at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum, Vladimir Putin called the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky not a Jew, but a disgrace to the nation who is covering up neo-Nazism. Once again he stressed the need for the so-called “denazification” in Ukraine.
In this connection, we would like to state the following:
First:
Volodymyr Zelensky is the leader who has shown an example of courage to his people and to the world.
Volodymyr Zelensky is a hero not only to the Jewish people, but to the entire political Ukrainian nation, which of course includes Jews. We are proud of the unwavering resilience of our President, who defends the democratic values, freedoms and peaceful rights of Ukraine and our citizens.
Second:
There is no neo-Nazism in contemporary Ukraine All the more so at the state level.
By the way, everyday anti-Semitism, already one of the lowest in Europe, is practically nonexistent in Ukraine after February 24, 2022.
In a recent study, the Anti-Defamation League explicitly linked this to the authority of Volodymyr Zelensky, who is leading the entire nation, including Jews, in the fight against russian aggression.
Third:
In regards to the accusation of the Ukrainians for the crimes during the Holocaust.
We would like to remind you that Ukraine is the fourth country in the world in the number of the Righteous Among the Nations (people who saved Jews during the Holocaust) – 2,691 people, according to Yad Vashem. According to Ukrainian researchers, there are over 15,000 Ukrainian Righteous. There are hundreds of thousands of Jewish lives saved on their account.
It was namely under President Volodymyr Zelensky that the Day of the Ukrainians who rescued Jews during the Second World War was established. It is celebrated at the state level on May 14.
Streets, squares, mini-parks, and memorials are named after the Ukrainian Righteous among others under the initiative of the Jewish Confederation of Ukraine “The Righteous People of My City” in all regions of Ukraine.
Many more arguments could be cited to refute the narratives of the russian propaganda. As an illustration of the so-called “denazification,” we want to show just one photo.
This is the Menorah at the Drobytsky Yar Memorial near Kharkiv. Here, during the Holocaust, the Nazis shot about 20,000 prisoners of the Kharkiv ghetto
The photo was taken right after the russian shelling on March 26, 2022.
President of the Jewish Confederation of Ukraine
Boris Lozhkin
Chief Rabbi of Kyiv and Ukraine
Yaakov Dov Bleich
Director of the Jewish Confederation of Ukraine
Inna Ioffe
