08 September 2011, 14:05
Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Volodymyr Lytvyn visited the exhibition "Holocaust by Bullets: Mass Shootings of Jews in Ukraine 19411944." Ambassadors of the United States of America, Germany, France, and Israel, famous politicians, and journalists were the first visitors of the exhibition.
Addressing the participants of the exhibition, V.Lytvyn reminded that more than a million and a half Jews were shot during the war. He stated that such events "are important not only in view of the 70th anniversary of the Babi Yar tragedy, but also because some people, politicians and associations which advocate misanthropic theories are rearing their heads." The Head of the Ukrainian Parliament believes that such exhibitions demonstrate the consequences of these theories. He thanked the initiators of the event, stressing that "it is important for every nation to guarantee the future, remembering about the past."
The Victor Pinchuk Foundation, in partnership with the Memorial de la Shoah, Yahad In Unum and the Ukrainian Embassies of Israel, France, Germany and the United States, presented the exhibition "Holocaust by Bullets: the Mass Shootings of Jews in Ukraine 1941-1944." The exhibition will be on display at the ‘Ukrainian House.´
The exhibition is based on the work of French Catholic priest, Father Patrick Desbois, and his association, Yahad In Unum, which conducts archival and field research and videotapes interviews with witnesses to the mass shootings in Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and Poland. The exhibition was previously displayed in Paris, Brussels, New York and other cities.
Father Patrick Desbois said that the exhibition confronts the theories of racism and dehumanization.