This was originally published by DemCast USA in March of 2022. Sadly, it still applies today, as the Trump government has cut off military aid and intelligence to Ukraine in an effort to force Zelenskyy to make concessions to Putin. It has been updated where possible to reflect the current situation.
On March 1, 2022 the world heard reports that the grounds of the Babyn Yar memorial were hit by Russian bombs. Babyn Yar is the place where over 33,000 Ukrainian Jews were brutally murdered by Nazi forces in two days during World War II.
In an era filled with cruelty, bigotry and death, Babyn Yar, a ravine in Kyiv, stands out as a special kind of horror. On two days in September 1941, approximately 33,771 (per Nazi records) Jews were told to undress and line up in rows at the edge of the ravine. They were then forced to walk into the ravine where they were shot. The crowd was so huge that the people at the back didn’t realize what was happening until their turn to be murdered drew near, making escape nearly impossible. Wounded victims were buried alive in the ravine, along with the dead.
In total, between 100,000 and 150,000 people, including Jews, patients at a psychiatric hospital, residents of Romani camps and members of the Ukrainian resistance were killed at Babyn Yar (also known as Babi Yar) during the Nazi occupation. Babyn Yar was also used as an execution site for Soviet prisoners.
The day after the Russians bombed this sacred place, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is Jewish, made an appeal in Hebrew to the world’s Jewish population: “I am now addressing the Jews of the world: Don’t you see what is happening?” Zelensky asked. “That is why it is very important that millions of Jews around the world do not remain silent now. Nazism is born in silence so shout about the killing of civilians, of Ukrainians.”
If we’ve learned anything from previous wars, it is that being silent is never the answer. Another lesson we should take from WWII is that appeasement is not a solution. Germany, Great Britain, Italy and France signed the Munich Agreement, a pact which gave Hitler parts of Czechoslovakia in exchange for a promise of peace. A year later German troops invaded Poland, and the world was again thrust into war.
Until Trump became president, Western Europe and the United States had been united in the desire to stop Russia and help Ukraine. Now European leaders are discussing efforts to supply Ukraine with needed military aid and intelligence without counting on the US to be part of their efforts.
So what can we do here? We must be loud and tell our representatives that we support aid to Ukraine. We should discourage efforts to deport Ukrainian refugees from our country. In 1938 the US turned away the trans-Atlantic liner the St. Louis, which carried 937 (mostly Jewish) refugees from Germany. They were ultimately forced to return to Europe where many died during the war. Let’s make sure that the US protects today’s refugees from warfare and brutality, just as we should have welcomed refugees who were fleeing the Holocaust.
Philosopher George Santayana famously said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." In 1948 Winston Churchill slightly changed Santayana’s quote saying “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” It is imperative that we learn the lessons of 20th-century history and do everything we can to ensure that Putin’s dream of a reconstituted Russian Empire fails. We have seen what happens when an autocratic leader sets his sights on Europe and beyond.
So, what can else you do? Here are some suggestions:
Raise awareness by sharing verified news updates with your networks and friends. If you have MAGA friends or family who will listen, give them the facts.
Post your support for Ukraine on social media, and participate in petitions and protests.
Keep contacting the White House (202-456-1414), your senators (202-324-1212) and your congressmembers (202-324-1212) and let them know that you have learned from history. Tell them you want them to act to help Ukraine and stop Putin. The 5calls website and mobile app make it easy by supplying direct phone numbers and scripts.