The Ukrainian nation, as no other nation, understands and is

Hear the voice of Volodymyr Zelensky, who, standing in the shadow of both past and present trials, declared: “The Ukrainian nation, as no other nation, understands and is fully aware of the tragedy and its scale of all the lost lives of the Ukrainian Jews during the Second World War.” These words are not mere remembrance, but a cry from the depths of a land that has borne witness to suffering beyond measure. They remind us that in Ukraine, the soil itself holds memory, soaked with the tears and blood of millions who perished in war and in genocide.

The Second World War brought horrors to every continent, but upon Ukraine, a double weight was pressed. For it was here that the Holocaust took on one of its most monstrous forms. At Babyn Yar, a ravine near Kyiv, tens of thousands of Jews were massacred in only two days, their lives extinguished in silence, their bodies left in mass graves. And beyond this single place, countless towns and villages across Ukraine saw their Jewish neighbors driven away, executed, erased from life. Zelensky’s words carry the weight of these memories, for Ukraine not only endured occupation and destruction but also became one of the central stages of the Holocaust’s cruelty.

The Ukrainian Jews were not strangers in this land—they were part of the nation’s body, its spirit, its culture. Their loss was not only the loss of individuals but the tearing away of entire communities, the silencing of voices that had sung, prayed, and laughed in Ukraine for centuries. To remember their destruction is not to recall distant strangers, but to mourn one’s own family, neighbors, and friends. Thus Zelensky speaks with conviction: Ukraine understands this tragedy as no other, for it was both victim and witness to its scale.

Consider the story of a child survivor, Dina Pronicheva, who escaped death at Babyn Yar by hiding among the bodies of the fallen. She later told the world how she saw mothers clutching infants, how entire families were cut down at once. Her testimony, spoken through trembling lips, carried the truth of what happened to those who had no voice left. Dina’s survival and courage ensure that the memory is not buried with the dead. Her story, and others like hers, stand as living proof of the horror Zelensky recalls.

The meaning of this quote is both remembrance and warning. To remember the tragedy of the Holocaust in Ukraine is not only to honor the dead but to protect the living. It is to recognize that such evil, if forgotten, may rise again. Zelensky, himself the grandson of Jews who endured the war, knows that memory is a weapon against silence, and silence is the ally of cruelty. His words remind his nation—and all nations—that the greatest tragedy is not only the loss of life, but the loss of remembrance.

The lesson for us is to carry forward the memory of those who perished, not as statistics, but as lives once full of love and hope. We must resist all voices that would deny or diminish their suffering. We must also recognize the signs of hatred and dehumanization in our own time, lest the seeds of another tragedy take root. For history does not repeat by accident—it repeats when memory fades and vigilance fails.

What, then, must we do? We must teach our children the truth of what happened. We must preserve the testimonies of survivors, the memorials, the names carved in stone, and the stories whispered through generations. We must not allow division or hatred to fracture us, but instead use the memory of shared suffering to build unity and compassion. And in our daily lives, we must confront prejudice wherever it hides, for in doing so we honor the memory of those who perished in Ukraine and beyond.

Therefore, let Zelensky’s words be carried as both lament and charge. Let them remind us that the tragedy of the Ukrainian Jews is not only a wound of the past but a warning for the future. If Ukraine, scarred by occupation and loss, can speak so clearly of remembrance, then so must we. For in remembering, we guard against repetition, and in honoring the dead, we build a world where the living may dwell in peace.