1980: an overview

Babyn Yar memorial

This was the year that small pockets of activists did immeasurable service to the Ukrainian community as a whole and the Ukrainian cause. In Denver, the local UCCA branch hammered out an agreement with the Jewish community which ensured that the Ukrainian victims of Babyn Yar would be included in the planned Babyn Yar memorial Park in that city. Their efforts touched off an outpouring of support from the Ukrainian community in the United States and Canada, as individuals and organizations sent letters and donations to assist the work of the Denver activists. Moreover, their action insured that the popular myth of Ukrainian collaboration was once and for all dead and buried in Denver. When visitors from throughout the United States pass by the memorial, they will read that Ukrainian people were victims and not victimizers during the Holocaust. The Babyn Yar project is a giant step in rectifying many misconceptions and its importance cannot be overstated.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, December 28, 1980, No. 31, Vol. LXXXVII

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