UWC pledges support for National Babyn Yar Memorial Project

In the leadup to the 80th anniversary commemoration of the Babyn Yar tragedy, the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) has pledged over $20M to support the realization of a National Babyn Yar Museum and Memorial Complex as authored by the Historical Institute of the Academy of Sciences.  A prominent Ukrainian community philanthropist has committed to no less than $20M and the UWC expects to receive further commitments from other donors to support this memorialization project.

The Russian and Soviet narratives have distorted Ukraine’s history by wrongly painting its people as perpetrators rather than victims of Nazi atrocities.  To safeguard Ukraine’s history from political manipulations and disinformation, key memorial projects such as Babyn Yar must be the sole responsibility of the Ukrainian State and not that of private interests. As such, UWC supports the establishment of a National Babyn Yar Museum and Memorial Complex of Ukraine with an independent and publicly accountable board appointed by the Government of Ukraine.

“Ukraine’s history must be told by the Ukrainian people. The accountability for national  memorial  projects, such as Babyn Yar and Holodomor, must be the responsibility of Ukraine’s democratically elected officials and not private interests. Funding for this project or any say in its governance or content cannot come from individuals or entities with ties to the Kremlin”, stated UWC President Paul Grod.

Background: UWC committed to support the development of key national memorial sites in a collaboration with the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine as outlined in a Memorandum of Cooperation signed on December 10th, 2020. Specifically, the Memorandum outlines cooperation and support for three museums in Ukraine: National Museum of Holodomor-Genocide, National Memorial to the Heavenly Hundred Heroes and Revolution of Dignity Museum, and National Memorial of Babyn Yar.