"Everyone who is keeping quiet now is complicit in crimes": NV interview with the Chief Rabbi of Ukraine

Originally appeared in Ukrainian @HB

Author: Kristina Berdynskykh

22 March 2022

NV spoke with Moshe Reuven Azman,  the Chief Rabbi of Ukraine, about Israel's cautious policy on the war in Ukraine and Russian war crimes.

Today the Brodsky Choral Synagogue in Kyiv resembles a volunteer headquarters constantly bustling with activity. Cars drive up to the building, which opened in 1898, and men carry in boxes of humanitarian aid.

Through Facebook, NV made the arrangements to interview the "host" of the synagogue, Moshe Reuven Azman, a Chief Rabbi of Ukraine.

These days the rabbi is very busy on social media sites, where he posts his messages or brief reports from the scenes of events. Recently he posted a video from Anativka, a Jewish village in Kyiv oblast, where shelling can be heard.

"What happened? Why is the press coming here? The New York Times and The Washington Post were already here ahead of you," NV was asked by a man with a submachine gun who was checking documents at the entrance to the synagogue.

Media attention is now focused on President Volodymyr Zelensky's speech to the Knesset on 20 March, during which he criticized the absence of Israeli sanctions against Russia.

NV spoke with the rabbi about this as well and asked how the synagogue, which has become one of the refugee reception and evacuation centers in Kyiv, is doing now.

Rabbi Azman passionately recounted how he is trying to dezombify brainwashed Russians, and shared his views of the "denazification" that the Russians are conducting in Ukraine.

 On 24 February, a great war came to Ukraine. Where were you at that moment?

I was in Anativka; it is our Jewish city. We have a hotel there, institutions, a school. This enabled us to accept a lot of people right away; hundreds of people who were fleeing the war.

People were fleeing neighboring villages?

People were escaping from Kyiv and Kyiv oblast. From Anativka, we have already started sending out convoys of buses and privately owned cars to Kishinev, the capital of Moldova, and from there, people are traveling onward. At that moment, my wife, children, and grandchildren were in Anativka. Later the shelling became very fierce there; it is very close to Stoianka, Bilohorodka, and Irpin. Incidentally, in Irpin, there was a children's home that we were operating. When battles broke out, a man from a family that was living there and the building could have fallen (I don't even know what happened to him), took a microbus, loaded children onto it, and, breaking through under fire, drove out of there.

We are continuing to evacuate people from all over Ukraine.

We are also delivering humanitarian aid to grandmothers and grandfathers, to whoever needs it. We delivered aid to hospitals and maternity hospitals.

We delivered first-aid backpacks from Israel; they are in great demand. Everything that is necessary for saving lives and administering first aid to the wounded is inside these backpacks. I bought the first batch with my own funds; they were snapped up in minutes. I couldn't even deliver them to Kyiv. Now I want to buy a bigger batch because they really save lives.

Recently there were refugees from Chernihiv in your synagogue. Where did they go?

The last group was here on Friday [18 March]. They arrived here in the evening, before curfew. We put them up. These were not just Jews but Ukrainians, Russians — everyone. They were people who had escaped from hell. They entered the synagogue and said: For one or two weeks, we did not have any heating; we lived in the cold. This is the first time that we are experiencing heat. I'm not saying that it's very warm here, but for them, it was warm. People are recounting that they had not eaten for three days. We fed them. All of them were in a state of shock. I tried to talk to people and even make jokes in order to entertain them somehow. I said that we have humanitarian aid in the form of pineapples. I distributed pineapples to them. I said that we would have restaurant food soon. I tried to be a psychologist and bring people out of their state of shock. I also sang to them, distracted them from bad thoughts. The people slept, and the next day we fed them and put them on buses. There was a very warm send-off. To date, this was the largest group of refugees: 300 people. Some people were lying down. They couldn't walk. They were taken away by ambulance.

The most terrible thing is when people come and ask where they are supposed to go next. We bring them to Kishinev, and from there, people go wherever they can. People ask: Where should we go, to western Ukraine or where? Not only have these people escaped a tragedy with nothing, but they are also facing so many trials.

Before the Second World War, Hitler said the same thing. They are simply changing the terminology. In my addresses to Russians, I asked them: Whom are you denazifying? The Russian-speaking city of Kharkiv, which did not come out to welcome you with flowers? Or the Jews? I am a Jew, a rabbi, who was born in Leningrad. Save whom from what? You have expelled people from their own cities.

A week ago, I was in central and western Ukraine. I was in Chernivtsi, a city whose population has swelled threefold. There is nowhere to lay down a mattress. And I realized that I don't know what to tell people. I tell them to go to some place, but in doing so, you are taking responsibility for that person. That is why I say: We brought you out, we will bring you to a safe place. You will be met there by volunteers, who will assist you. But wherever you go later, you have to decide for yourselves. I can only give you my blessing.

People related the immense tragedies that they had seen with their very own eyes. I interviewed some people by phone — those who agreed. It is very important to show the world the crimes of the Russian army and what is happening. I myself did these interviews so that later it would not be said that a TV program had stitched something together. I don't know how my heart withstood everything that I heard during these days. Like a surgeon, I hardened my heart, in order to bring this truth to the world.

 When Russia launched the war against Ukraine, it justified it by saying that its goal was denazification and a struggle against Nazis. What can you say about this?

Before the Second World War, Hitler said the same thing. They are simply changing the terminology. In my addresses to Russians, I asked them: Whom are you denazifying? The Russian-speaking city of Kharkiv, which did not come out to welcome you with flowers? Or the Jews? I am a Jew, a rabbi, who was born in Leningrad. Save whom from what? You have expelled people from their own cities.

Here is a story about one granny, 92-year-old Rachel. I spoke with her in Anativka. In 1941, when she was a little girl, she jumped onto the last train; someone put her on it, and that's how she was saved from the Holocaust. At the time, she was fleeing the German army. But right now, she was escaping from Ukraine, from the Russian army. At the age of 92! A few days later, I learned that she finally reached Munich, where she has a daughter. And she died there. She died while fleeing a second time. The whole world should know this story.

I addressed the Russians. I believe that those who are allowing themselves to be deceived are complicit in the crimes. What Nazis are here? You would have to respect yourself so little to allow yourself to be duped by this Kiselov, this Solovev, and other fascist agitators. I would not call them fascists if I had not seen that they are bombing peaceful cities and civilians, dropping bombs on them. The bombs are falling any which way; they are firing missiles, howitzers, Grads, Uragans, and whatever else they have, I don't know. People were lined up for bread. They were shelled, and all of them were killed. In front of our very eyes, buildings were destroyed — direct hits. What is this? These are war crimes. A Nuremberg trial has to be held for the whole world.

In Kyiv, they shelled the television tower in Dorohyzhychi, right next to Babyn Yar.

The television tower stands in Babyn Yar. The fact that the missile hit the television tower means that it hit Babyn Yar. It ricocheted from the television tower and hit the territory of Babyn Yar exactly because everything all around is Babyn Yar. This is very symbolic. And in Kharkiv, a rocket hit the roof of a synagogue. They are coming supposedly to liberate someone, but they are only bringing destruction. Whom are they liberating? Those refugees from Chernihiv who have arrived here? They have lost their homes; they don't know where to go next; they are suffering.

They, the Russian occupiers, should release everyone from themselves, the entire cultured, civilized world. I was silent until I saw that these are war crimes that must be stopped at any cost. My addresses are intended more for Russians in the hopes that I will dezombify the zombified.

Has there been any reaction? People showed me their correspondence with relatives in Russia, who don't believe what is happening in Ukraine. For example, a sister writes to her brother that she is being bombed, and her brother does not believe her.

It's their problem if they don't believe. When the German people were told about Babyn Yar, they too refused to believe. Either they did not believe, or they were zombified. Since the war ended, they have not been able to absolve themselves; they sprinkle their heads with ash.

It is said that this is the second time around. During Stalin's rule, "enemies" began to be shot, then others were shot. The fact that they [the Russian regime] has not absolved itself is a big problem, as is the fact that the CPSU was never tried for all the Stalinist crimes and atrocities.

Then why are you addressing the Russians?

There are many Russian Jews who are also zombified. But some of them have begun calling me and expressing sympathy; they are beginning to open up. I believe that their eyes must be opened. The more they open, the faster they'll stop. I explain that every person that remains silent now, does not protest, is complicit in these crimes.

You are staying in Kyiv. There is shelling here, too. Nearly every night a piece of a rocket falls somewhere. Have you not thought about moving to a safer place?

I believe that a person should be where s/he is supposed to be. To be honest, I evacuated my family far away — in Israel. Before I evacuated my little grandchildren — and I have a lot of them — when they were still under fire, I could not eat or drink. When they left, I was no longer afraid. You see that you are needed here, that people remain here who must be helped, and their spirits must be raised. If they see that the rabbi has left, this means that everything is very bad. I am not leaving Kyiv, or Ukraine, so that I can let people understand that everything will be fine.

There is a lot of criticism right now in Ukraine aimed at the State of Israel, which has cancelled the visa-free agreement and is reacting insufficiently harshly to Moscow's military aggression. What can you say about this?

With regard to the visa agreement, I signed a letter together with 80 prominent Jews, requesting that this situation be rectified.

On the one hand, I understand Israel. Israel is in a difficult situation; it is also fighting for its existence. Putin is blackmailing Israel with Syria, Hezbollah, and Iran. Everything is complicated. But I said: Provide us with the Iron Dome air defense system. It is defense and protection for the civilian population; it is not an offensive weapon. Israel is not offering it because Putin is putting pressure on this, too.

Whom did you contact with regard to the Iron Dome?

Almost every day, I appear on Israeli television and radio. I have said everything openly on prime time on the main television channel. I said that Putin does not hold you in high regard in any event. At the UN, Putin votes against Israel. Putin is welcoming the enemies of Israel — Hamas, Hezbollah — he writes that they are friends. I do not agree with the situation, but I am not the Israeli government.

When people are leaving Ukraine and hesitating about where to go, I tell them right away: Don't head to Israel. Israel is not ready to accept refugees; even Jews are experiencing problems. I solve problems from here every day. People are telephoning me to complain about the bureaucracy. I say: Better you should go to Europe; they are ready to accept people there.

I expect that the war will end quickly, and all the people will return to Ukraine. Without realizing it, Putin has united the people of Ukraine, all people of various nationalities and confessions. I think that Ukraine will rebuild itself and may become one of the most successful countries in the world.

Translated from the Ukrainian by Marta D. Olynyk.

Related: Historic synagogue in Kyiv has spent $2 million evacuating Ukrainians from war’s hot spots