#babyn yar massacre

[jacensolodjo]

From September 29-30 in 1941, over 33,000 Jews were murdered by German Nazi forces and local collaborators at the Babyn Yar ravine just outside of Kyiv in Ukraine. This was one of the largest single event massacres of the entire Holocaust.

Back in 2022, russcist forces attacked the memorial site that now sits at the ravine during their invasion of Ukraine. 5 souls were lost, adding to the victims lost to fascists.

We do not forget. We do not forgive.

For 25 years, the communist government of the USSR put up a placeholder plaque. And you tell us they were the friends of Jews. They kept quiet about the Shoah and you tell us they were the friends of Jews while they hid the sites of atrocities and kept it out of history books. They hid the pogroms they themselves orchestrated. They pretended Stalin himself wasn't set to sign an order to murder untold numbers of Jews before Hashem intervened in the Purim Miracle.

We remember Babyn Yar. We always remembered Babyn Yar, no matter how hard the USSR and the world at large wanted us to forget that 33,000 of us were murdered there.

You cannot get rid of Jews. You cannot get rid of Ukrainians. And doubly so you cannot get rid of Ukrainian Jews.

(The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention was founded to fill a gap they felt was seen when it comes to active prevention of genocide using the definition that Raphael Lemkin, of blessed memory, came up with in the days of the Second World War. It does similar work to GenocideWatch.org, though the Institute works off of 10 patterns rather than 10 stages. I don't always agree with how they proceed like with these patterns but I appreciate their work nonetheless as it is hard to go wrong in work to prevent genocide.)

#Babyn Yar #holocaust mention #shoah mention #babyn yar massacre #i would do the rest of the alt text but i am tired #and i kinda paraphrased it anyway

[kafkaesquegf]

Hey, everyone. On February 24, 2022, Russia commenced their illegal full-scale invasion of Ukraine following six years of conflict between Russian-backed separatist groups and Ukrainian forces in Crimea and Donbas. one year later, the Russian offensive has not stopped, and Ukraine continues to face shelling, rocket fire, and bombardments on both military and civilian infrastructure. the lives of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian people are on the line as Russia descends further and further into fascism and military dictatorship. 

Russia has continually used the excuse of “denazification” in Ukraine to justify their criminal and imperialist war in Ukraine. As a Ukrainian-American Jew whose grandparents fled a Ukrainian shtetl in Podillia during the 1920s, I say that this is a disgusting, perverse, and wholly cynical manipulation of Ukrainian-Jewish historical trauma for the gains of an imperialist power. My relationship to Ukrainian nationalism is complex, but I know one thing for sure: Russia doesn’t give a shit about Jews. If they did, they wouldn’t be using the Neo-Nazi-infested Wagner PMC, and they wouldn’t be shelling Jewish heritage sites. Hundreds of years of Jewish culture and history are in danger of destruction by Russian artillery fire. In March of 2022, the memorial at Babyn Yar ravine outside of Kyiv, which was the site of the single largest massacre of Jews during the Holocaust by the Nazis and their collaborators, was hit by Russian artillery. 

Russia does not care about Ukrainian Jews. Russia does not want Ukrainian Jews to see themselves as Ukrainian at all; it wants to undo the decades of bridge-building that have taken place between non-Jewish and Jewish communities in Ukraine. In the end, Russia wants to see the complete annihilation of both groups.

To every Ukrainian, Jewish and not, I wish you strength, hope, and courage in the beginning this second year of invasion. And to every Russian government official, vatnik and Z-fascist who supports the war, I wish you nothing more than oblivion.

If you can, please consider donating to the following charities:

Come Back Alive

United24

Ukrainian Recovery Funds

Jewish Relief Network Ukraine

World Jewish Relief

Слава Україні! Нет войне!

#long post but important #war in ukraine #ukraine #invasion of ukraine #stand with ukraine #stop war in ukraine #ukrainian jews #russia is a terrorist state #tal.txt

[shattered-pieces]

The attempt to cover up the mass murder at Babyn Yar means that only about one in 10 of the many thousands of people who died there have been identified. But much of what we do know was gathered by journalists who visited the site when Kyiv returned to Russian control in 1943. They interviewed three Russian prisoners of war who had survived the massacre, and they toured the site, finding bones and shoes and other remnants of the dead.   Bill Downs, who reported on the massacre for Newsweek, wrote to his parents in 1944: “Unless it can be brought home as to what the Germans have done in Europe – the cruelty and ruthlessness and bestial killings and emasculations and dismemberment that has gone on – well, I’m afraid that we’ll be too soft on them.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/20/ukraine-true-detectives-investigators-closing-in-on-russian-war-crimes

#ukraine #russia #babyn yar #war #russian invasion of ukraine #war crimes #i would hope we would care #im afraid some idk how many would say “so what #but yes we should be outraged proportionally #which means doing something #proportional

[sixty-silver-wishes]

assumptions game- you have a really cool collection of classical music on either cd or vinyl

Yes; I have both! Here’s my CD collection-

Everything here was either thrifted or a gift! I love thrifting music because some pieces are much rarer than others (you won’t find a ton of Schoenberg, for instance, but Ravel’s “Bolero” is super common and I have a really funny theory why), so it’s a lot of fun searching for what I like. That Shostakovich box set was probably my best find!

Here are my vinyls; I don’t have as many, but I have some interesting stuff. I bought the Petrushka just for the weird cover design; the Webern collection is probably my favorite, and I also have the censored premiere recording of Shostakovich 13, which I don’t really like (not just due to the censorship, but also the quality), but it’s still a fascinating piece of history.

For context on the censorship, the first movement of Shostakovich 13 includes a sung poem, “Babi Yar,” which is about the Soviet Union’s refusal to acknowledge anti-Semitism, specifically in the case of the massacre at Babyn Yar, a ravine in Ukraine where the Nazis killed thousands of primarily Jewish civilians in 1941. (“Babi Yar” is the Russian name for the location, as well as the name of the poem, which was written in Russian). Because the text was so controversial, the poet who wrote it, Evgeny Evtushenko, was pressured into toning down the accusatory nature of the text and lines protesting anti-Semitism, in favor of making it more “patriotic”. (The fourth movement, which includes a poem on the historical trauma Russians faced at the hands of their own government, was censored as well.) Nowadays, the symphony is typically performed with the original uncensored text (which I have included in the CD box set), but it’s interesting from a research perspective to be able to compare them.

#music #classical music #soviet history #shostakovich #cd collection #cw holocaust #vinyl

[yermak]

This Is Why Ukraine Stands With Israel

The terrible terrorist attack on Israel resonated with Ukrainians. Rockets, torture and murder, the abduction of children – we know this script too well. But the similarity of our tragedies is not accidental.

by Andriy Yermak

Published on October 13, 2023

On September 29, I held a meeting with foreign ambassadors. We discussed one of the key points of President Zelenskyy’s 10-point Peace Formula – Justice. The day was also the 82nd anniversary of the beginning of the Shoah for Kyiv Jews.

We gathered in Babyn Yar, a place whose name has become synonymous with genocide. A suburban ravine in Kyiv, Babyn Yar played host to some of the worst genocidal atrocities of World War Two. Over two days in 1941, around 34,000 Ukrainian Jews were massacred by the Nazis there. In total, up to 150,000 eventually lost their lives there.

But genocide does not lurk in the past. As Israel knows only too well, it is a phenomenon the world must grapple with in the present day. In the first days of the Russian invasion, Babyn Yar was hit by missiles, killing an entire family near the memorial complex.

This horror is why the terrible terrorist attack on Israel resonated with pain in the hearts of Ukrainians. Not only because historically the destinies of our peoples have been closely intertwined. But also because in modern times we are forced to fight for the same basic rights: to be ourselves and live safely on our own land. As the legendary Prime Minister of Israel, Golda Meir, who was born in Kyiv, aptly noted, “We intend to remain alive. Our neighbors want to see us dead. This is not a question that leaves much room for compromise.”

This horror is why the terrible terrorist attack on Israel resonated with pain in the hearts of Ukrainians. Not only because historically the destinies of our peoples have been closely intertwined. But also because in modern times we are forced to fight for the same basic rights: to be ourselves and live safely on our own land. As the legendary Prime Minister of Israel, Golda Meir, who was born in Kyiv, aptly noted, “We intend to remain alive. Our neighbors want to see us dead. This is not a question that leaves much room for compromise.”

Thousands of rockets flying at peaceful cities. Torture and execution of peaceful people, looting, execution of prisoners and abduction of children – we know this script too well. Cruelty has no excuses. Terrorism has no nationality. Barbarism knows no borders. And that is why today Bucha in Ukraine mourns Re'im in Israel.

But all of us must understand: the similarity of their tragedies is not accidental.

They are parts of the same plan, elements of an asymmetric war waged against the free world by the “axis of evil.” Since this term was introduced by President George W. Bush, it has undergone a series of transformations. The main one was the emergence of a new leader - Putin's Russia. Restoring the status of a superpower has become a real symbol of the Kremlin. He is fixated on revenge for the Cold War, and he repeatedly refers to its practices.

In the modern world, in a world built on partnership and consensus of interests, Russia does not have competitive advantages. The only chance for them is to create a situation where the difference between peace and war becomes illusionary.

For decades, Moscow has formed a coalition of autocratic regimes, fringe movements and terrorist organizations which poses an ever-increasing threat to humanity.

In his Valdai speech on October 5, Vladimir Putin spoke about the diversity and multiplicity of civilizations. As always, he lied.

In the modern world, civilization exists only as the antithesis of barbarism. Civilization cannot be built on hatred. But it is hatred and contempt for life that cements the alliance of Russia, Iran, North Korea and their numerous proxies. Hate is the product that they seek to promote in all world markets. It seems incredible, but in the era of globalization, the main threat to humanity is an alliance of death cults that assert their right to sacrifice. However, they prefer to call it the “protection of national interests” and the “struggle against the West.”

Neither Russia nor its allies are in a position to offer the world a positive agenda. That is why they repeatedly resort to racketeer tactics: supporting violence, intimidation and blackmail, and then naming the price of its solution. The capitulation in the Crimean War of the nineteenth century did not prevent Emperor Alexander II from later instructing the cadets: “Russia is not a trading or agricultural state, but a military one, and its vocation is to be the awe of the world.” A century and a half later, Vladimir Putin and his associates want the same thing. And again, and again, they bet on terror.

From Eastern Europe to the Middle East and Latin America, from the Caucasus to the Sahel, the same scenario plays out, often with the same performers. The bloody trail of PMC Wagner, also known as the Wagner Group, stretched from Syria to Ukraine and Africa. Its mercenaries taught Hamas fighters to drop bombs from drones. Hacker groups linked to Russia hacked the websites of Israeli state institutions, and the Russian GRU transported weapons captured in Ukraine to Palestine.

The futility of Israel’s balancing act over Russia’s aggressive invasion of Ukraine became obvious this week when Putin claimed the Hamas attacks on Israel were a result of failure to “take the core interests of the Palestinian people into account.” Trying to poke the bear never works when dealing with self-righteous imperial ambitions.

Russia’s recent moves across the wider Middle East region also provide food for thought. In 2015, intervening in the Syrian civil war helped the Kremlin divert the attention of the West from Russian aggression against Ukraine and attempts to freeze the conflict in Donbas amid the European refugee crisis. Having gained time and built strength, Russia then tried to capture all of Ukraine. Only the heroism of our people and the determined help of our allies made it possible to foil the aggressor’s plans.

Will the Kremlin try to engineer the same scenario of forcing the democratic community to appeasement by using the current attack on Israel? You can bet on it. As a puppet master, Moscow gladly plays the role of mediator. What will happen next? A friendship with a cannibal always ends with a festive dinner.

Robert Jackson, the U.S. Supreme Court Justice who was the leading American prosecutor at the Nuremberg war crimes trials, built the charges against the Nazis on the idea of a state created for war. For reasons beyond Jackson's control, the concept was not developed at the time. But now it is relevant again. Confrontation is the raison d'être of both the current Russian regime and its minions.

This means one thing: only a convincing defeat of Russia will break the axis of evil. Only the joint efforts and determination of the international community can overcome terrorism. That's right: overcome. Negotiations with terrorists, regardless of the signs of statehood, are never the end of the war. It is always a pause, after which the terrorists come back stronger and better prepared.

Long-term and full-scale assistance to those who suffer from aggression and the inevitable punishment of its perpetrators, provided for by the Ukrainian Peace Formula, is the most reliable guarantee of world security.

Andriy Yermak is the head of the Office of the Ukrainian Presidency.

#andriy yermak #volodymyr zelenskyy #ukraine #israel

[theculturedmarxist]

>This is David Ayzenberg , a Ukrainian Jew born in Kyiv in 1926 . He was one of the very few survivors of the Babyn Yar massacre, which we commemorate its 82th anniversary today . Just listen to his testimony ; He testifies they were led by Ukrainian nationalists and not by Germans to the execution site . We are probably the last generation who still live within the living memory of the Holocaust. Let's not forget what happened there .

#ukrainian nationalists #babin yar #holocaust #ukraine #babyn yar

[fabiansteinhauer]

This investigation inaugurates a long-term collaboration between Forensic Architecture (FA) and the Center for Spatial Technologies (CST) that aims to deliver detailed reconstructions of Ukrainian sites of cultural and historical significance affected by the Russian invasion. As the war has brought Ukraine to the world’s attention, with many getting their first real vision of the country as a site of ruin, we seek to understand these sites of destruction as a means of bringing to life Ukraine’s complex, vibrant and troubled past.

On 1 March 2022, Russia launched a missile strike on the Kyiv TV tower. It was not particularly effective militarily, nor was it among the deadliest strikes in Russia’s attack on Ukraine. However, the significance of targeting the capital city’s main television and radio tower cannot be underestimated in a war that is as much about control over narrative as over land and the people inhabiting it.

The missiles targeting the TV tower landed on the territory known as Babyn Yar, the site of one of the worst massacres of the Holocaust. Historical references, particularly ones related to the Second World War and the Holocaust, have been continuously weaponised as part of Russia’s propaganda machine. Given their claims about the ‘de-Nazification’ of Ukraine, the damaging of one of the Holocaust’s most significant symbolic sites is particularly ironic.

Our investigation seeks to examine the confluence of past and present in this fraught landscape, drawing together a detailed analysis of the recent strike on the TV tower and a spatial reconstruction of the Babyn Yar site—a complex ravine system that used to run through this part of Kyiv. By excavating the historical layers of the Babyn Yar site, we have been able to locate within it the massacres that took place and the multiple attempts made to silence their memory.

#forensic architecture

[sethshead]

Soviet objections to ethnic particularism within their empire always made sure to equivocate over one detail: they knew that “Soviet” and “Russian” were largely interchangeable. This is how the massacre of Jews at Babyn Yar was in Soviet historiography not an antisemitic crime of extermination, but a fascist one directed as Soviet, read ethnic Russian, citizens.

This is how contemporary Russia continues to erase the costs of World War II in the countries where it was fought most brutally: Ukraine and Belarus. The innocent victims, the Red Army personnel, the partisans who perished or demonstrated their heroism were Soviets, Russian, while only the collaborators are acknowledged as ethnic Ukrainian or Belarusian. The truth was, of course, the opposite: it was the local peoples of Ukraine and Belarus - Ukrainians, Belarusians, Jews, Poles, and others - who suffered the most at the hands of German and Rumanian invaders and battled most fiercely for survival. Some Ukrainian nationalists continued to fight the Soviets as well, but the numbers of collaborators with the Nazis was far smaller than that of the ethnic Russians who benefited most from the Soviet regime.

This was the view of the war taught in Soviet universities. This is how Mahmoud Abbas was able to pass a dissertation that both questioned the death toll of the Holocaust and blamed it not on Nazi racist ideology but on Jewish particularism. This is how a Vladimir Putin is able to frame any resistance to ethnic Russian domination in the 21st Century as “Naziism”. What’s saddest of all are the numbers of Western academics who were influenced by these old Soviet distortions to teach these equivocations, these libels against Ukrainian and Jewish liberation equating them with the Nazis, up to the present day.

[mihaitaresister]

[recentlyheardcom]

Russian air defences have shot down one of the country’s most advanced jet fighters in a friendly-fire incident on Thursday night, according to reports.The Russian Su-35 was downed over Tokmak, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, which is the target of Ukraine’s counteroffensive to retake territory.A Russian Telegram channel with close links to its air force appeared to confirm the incident on Friday when it paid tribute to the pilot, who did not survive.Footage of the incident began circulating on social media on Friday, showing a fireball falling out of the sky.Ukrainian channels claimed a Russian S-300 missile had brought down the aircraft, each of which is believed to cost more than £35 million.Follow the latest updates below.02:31 PM BSTZelensky marks anniversary of Nazi massacreUkraine on Friday marked the 82nd anniversary of a mass killing, mainly of Jews, during the Nazi occupation of the country.Nearly 34,000 Jewish men, women and children were shot dead September 29-30, 1941 at Babyn Yar, outside of Kyiv.Volodymyr Zelensky paid tribute to those killed.“Today, Ukraine and the world commemorate the 82nd anniversary of the Babyn Yar massacre, one of the most terrible Nazi crimes committed during the Holocaust,” he wrote on Twitter.“I paid tribute to the victims and thanked the Ukrainian Jewish community leaders for coming to pray and commemorate them.”Today, Ukraine and the world commemorate the 82nd anniversary of the Babyn Yar massacre, one of the most terrible Nazi crimes committed during the Holocaust.I paid tribute to the victims and thanked the Ukrainian Jewish community leaders for coming to pray and commemorate them. pic.twitter.com/J3BVpXLqfm— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) September 29, 202302:04 PM BSTThe frontline in picturesHere are the latest pictures from the frontline in Ukraine:Ukrainian servicemen - REUTERS/Oleksandr RatushniakA Ukrainian serviceman prepares tank's shells - REUTERS/Oleksandr RatushniakA Ukrainian serviceman is seen in a tank - REUTERS/Oleksandr Ratushniak01:38 PM BSTSeven countries order ammunition under EU scheme to aid UkraineSeven EU countries have ordered ammunition under a landmark European Union procurement scheme to get urgently needed artillery shells to Ukraine and replenish depleted Western stocks, according to the EU agency in charge.The orders - placed under contracts negotiated by the European Defence Agency (EDA) - are for 155mm artillery rounds, one of the most important munitions in the intense war of attrition between Ukraine’s troops and Russia’s invading forces.The scheme was set up as part of a plan worth at least 2 billion euros, launched in March with the aim of getting 1 million artillery shells and missiles to Ukraine within a year.Some officials and diplomats have expressed scepticism that the target will be met but the initiative marked a significant step in the EU’s growing role in defence and military affairs, spurred by the war in Ukraine.The agency declined to name the countries, saying it was up to each government to announce its orders. In response to a query from Reuters, Lithuania’s Defence Ministry confirmed it was one of the countries.01:18 PM BST'Powerful' explosion reported in Zaporizhzhia oblastThe head of Berdiansk’s military administration has reported a “powerful” explosion.Viktoriia Halitsina said the city, in Zaporizhzhia oblast, suffered from power supply outages after the blast.The reports, which were released by the Kyiv Independent, have not yet been independently verified.12:57 PM BSTRussian athletes to compete at Paris ParalympicsRussian athletes will be able to compete as full participants or neutral athletes at next year’s Paris Paralympics after the International Paralympic Committee members voted against a full ban of Russia on Friday.The decision clears the way for Russians, whose athletes are currently banned from any Paralympic competition,

to be in Paris and what the IPC will decide later on Friday is whether they will do so in full national team gear or if they will compete as neutrals, without national emblems, flags or anthem.“At the IPC General Assembly in Bahrain, IPC members voted 74-65 (13 abstentions) against a motion to fully suspend NPC (National Paralympic Committee) Russia for breaches of its constitutional membership obligations,” the IPC said.The decision comes two weeks before the International Olympic Committee session in Mumbai where it will also discuss Russia’s and Belarus’ participation at the Paris Olympics next year.12:32 PM BSTCleverly: 'We cannot accept this attack on Ukrainian sovereignty'Donetsk and Luhansk are Ukraine.Kherson and Zaporizhzhia are Ukraine.Crimea is Ukraine.Today, we have sanctioned those responsible for staging sham elections on Ukrainian soil.We cannot accept this attack on Ukrainian sovereignty.— James Cleverly🇬🇧 (@JamesCleverly) September 29, 202312:02 PM BSTUK sanctions officials linked to elections in annexed regions of UkraineThe British government on Friday imposed an asset freeze and travel bans on officials linked to elections in the annexed Ukrainian regions of Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Luhansk, Donetsk and Crimea.The government said the sanctioned officials had been involved in recent “sham elections” in the regions.“The UK will never recognise Russia’s claims to Ukrainian territory - Crimea, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Luhansk and Kherson are Ukraine,” foreign minister James Cleverly said in a statement.Britain also added Russia’s emergencies minister Alexander Kurenkov and the secretary of the Russian Central Election Commission Natalya Budarina to the sanctions list.Russian President Vladimir Putin said the elections conducted this month in Russian-held parts of Ukraine marked a step towards their full integration into Russia.11:46 AM BSTUS Abrams tanks welcomed by Ukrainian soldiersUS Abrams tanks have arrived in Ukraine’s east, offering tank crews more firepower and protection in their fight against Russia.Their arrival was previously confirmed by President Volodymyr Zelensky.US General Mark Milley said the tanks “will make a difference” in the war.Crews serving in the eastern region of Donetsk added that the tanks would mark a big improvement of the Soviet-era tanks currently on the battlegrounds.“The Abrams tank....has protection against ammunition detonation. (This tank) does not have it. If ammunition detonates, there is no chance to survive,” said tank driver Vitalii.11:22 AM BSTWatch: Putin tasks former Wagner commander with overseeing volunteer fightersVladimir Putin has tasked a former commander of the Wagner group with overseeing volunteer fighter units in Ukraine, according to a Kremlin statement on Friday.“At the last meeting we talked about you overseeing the formation of volunteer units that can carry out various tasks, first and foremost of course in the zone of the special military operation,” Putin was quoted as saying to Andrei Troshev, using Moscow’s name for its offensive in Ukraine.“You yourself have been fighting in such a unit for more than a year,” Putin said. “You know what it is, how it is done, you know about the issues that need to be resolved in advance so that the combat work goes in the best and most successful way.” [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPRiTMneiiI[/embed]11:01 AM BSTPictures: Ukrainian serviceman on the frontlineHere, a Ukrainian serviceman uploads shells in a tank, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in the Donetsk region.A Ukrainian serviceman - REUTERS/Oleksandr Ratushniak10:44 AM BSTUkrainian 'spy' detainedRussian security forces have arrested a man accused of passing information to Ukraine on the Kerch Peninsula in eastern Crimea, according to local media.The 45-year-old local allegedly established contact with the main intelligence directorate of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine.He carried out photo and video recordings of the movement of military equipment

in the direction of the special military operation zone, transmitting the specified information through closed communication channels.10:19 AM BSTZelensky in running for Nobel Peace PrizeUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian dissident Alexei Navalny are in the running for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.Although bookmakers have Mr Zelensky as a top candidate to join the list of laureates from Nelson Mandela to Martin Luther King, Nobel specialists believe that as a wartime leader, the Ukrainian president is unlikely to be named.The imprisoned Mr Navalny’s chances are lessened because Russian dissidents won last year and the year before.Last year’s prize, seen by many as a rebuke to Russian President Vladimir Putin, went to jailed Belarusian activist Ales Bialiatski, Russian rights group Memorial and Ukraine’s Center for Civil Liberties.09:55 AM BSTZelensky blessed by Ukraine’s chief rabbiPresident Volodymyr Zelensky joined Ukraine’s chief rabbi Moshe Reuven Azman to Babyn Yar on Friday.He made the trip to pay his respects on the anniversary of the massacre there in the Second World War.The Rabbi said he had blessed Mr Zelensky:“At Babyn Yar, starting on 29 September 1941, more than 35,000 Jews were killed in the first three days.“The tragedy of the Holocaust leaves a deep mark in the hearts of many, the losses are irreversible and painful, and it is important to remember those who lost their lives in those dark days.“I blessed the President of Ukraine at this holy place and wished him, on the eve of the Sukkot holiday, strength of spirit, inspiration and God’s protection for the entire Ukrainian people.“May the blessings of the Almighty accompany Ukraine on the way to peace and prosperity.”Today, September 29, on the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Babyn Yar, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, together with the Righteous Among the Nations and the rabbis of the cities of Ukraine, honored the memory of the victims of the Holocaust in Babyn Yar.At… pic.twitter.com/KdyE0dkMrq— Chief Rabbi Of Ukraine Moshe Azman (@RabbiUkraine) September 29, 202309:35 AM BSTRussian bloggers admit to self-censorshipNumerous Russian bloggers have admitted to self-censoring their reporting, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).The news speaks to a wider trend in how Russia discusses certain battle areas.Self-censorship can make it harder for groups like the ISW to accurately talk about Russia’s actions in Ukraine, the ISW said.One blogger was found to have changed a post to make it seem like Ukraine had not made much progress, hinting at the possibility that Russia could be controlling the information shared.09:03 AM BST'Tough issues' to clear before EU membership talks with UkraineHungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday that “very difficult questions” would need to be answered before the European Union could even start membership talks with Ukraine.EU countries are due to decide in December whether to allow Ukraine to begin accession negotiations, which would require the unanimous backing of all 27 members. Diplomats have said Hungary may be an obstacle.“We cannot avoid the question - when during the autumn we will have negotiations in Brussels about the future of Ukraine - whether we can actually seriously consider membership for a country, to start accession talks with a country that is at war,” Orban told state radio.“We don’t know how big the territory of this country is, as the war is still ongoing, we don’t know how big its population is as they are fleeing ... to admit a country to the EU without knowing its parameters, this would be unprecedented.“So I think we need to answer very long and difficult questions until we get to actually deciding about the start of accession talks,” he said.08:34 AM BSTWagner fighters returning to Ukraine, says UK MoDHundreds of Wagner mercenaries are likely to have returned to Ukraine, according to the UK Ministry of Defence.The MoD said that it is thought

the fighters have joined official Russian military forces and other private military companies.Wagner veterans are gathering around Bakhmut, which was seized by Wagner after months of brutal fighting, according to reports.The MoD said that “their experience is likely to be particularly in demand” in the area.Wagner withdrew from combat operations in Ukraine by early June 2023, prior to the abortive mutiny of 24 June 2023, the MoD added.It also follows the death of Wagner owner Yevgeny Prigozhin and other senior leaders in a plane crash on 23 August 2023.08:12 AM BSTAutumn conscripts will not fight in UkraineA Russian official in the country’s armed forces has said that those conscripted during the autumn campaign will not be sent to fight in Ukraine.Vladimir Tsimlyansky, deputy chief of the main organisational and mobilisation directorate of the general staff of the Russian Federation armed forces, said the conscriptions began on Oct 1.He said:“Servicemen undergoing conscription military service will not be sent to the points of deployment of units of the armed forces of the Russian Federation in new regions of the Russian Federation: Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, or to participate there in carrying out the tasks of a special military operation.”07:49 AM BSTRussian shelling kills five in southern, eastern UkraineRussian shelling on Thursday killed three women in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson and two people in eastern Donetsk region, local officials said.Prosecutors said the three women were killed on a street in Kherson, a town abandoned by Russian troops late last year along with other settlements on the west bank of the Dnipro River. Russian forces routinely shell Kherson and nearby areas from positions on the river’s east bank.Prosecutors in Donetsk region in the east said two people died when Russian forces shelled Krasnohorivka, west of the Russian-held city of Donetsk and near the long-contested town of Maryinka.In Kostyantynivka, west of the town of Bakhmut, in Russian hands since May, three people were injured when Russian forces launched two air strikes within an hour, prosecutors said.Reuters could not independently verify any of the accounts of military activity.07:33 AM BSTRussia says 11 Ukrainian drones destroyed overnightRussia claimed on Friday that it had destroyed 11 Ukrainian drones overnight, though one UAV dropped explosives on a substation, cutting the local power supply, a regional governor said.“Eleven Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were destroyed by air defence systems on duty, one of them over the territory of Kaluga region and 10 over Kursk region,” Russia’s defence ministry said on the messaging platform Telegram.Kursk governor Roman Starovoyt said that the region bordering eastern Ukraine was “massively attacked” by Ukrainian UAVs.In Belaya village, less than 25 kilometres (16 miles) from the border, “a Ukrainian drone dropped two explosive devices on a substation”, he said on Telegram.“One of the transformers caught fire. Five settlements and a hospital were cut off from power supply. Fire crews rushed to the scene,” he added.“Power will be restored as soon as it is safe to do so.”Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month, then enjoy 1 year for just $9 with our US-exclusive offer.

[jacensolodjo]

Total disclosure: Because of the book Babi Yar being republished in English on 4/18/2023, while also seeing certain posts on my dash, I was inspired to make this post.

If the USSR was a free and open utopia why were books like "Babi Yar" sent through so much censorship it would have probably been better it was never published at all?

Babi Yar aka Babyn Yar, you know, the massacre of (predominantly) Jews that was the largest singular event massacre of the Holocaust?

If the USSR cared about Jews why did they cover up and refuse to even so much as put a plaque of remembrance up for DECADES after? Oh sure 25 years after Babyn Yar they put up a placeholder plaque promising a new one. BUT they would clear away all the flowers and such from the PLACEHOLDER PLAQUE whenever foreign dignitaries finished their tour of the area. How, exactly, is that okay? How could they put effort into all of that and not even give a proper plaque of remembrance? (The answer, by the way, is this was the Soviet Union's standard MO. Western writer is visiting? Quick, hire a bunch of actors to live in this totally fake Ukrainian village to PROVE there is NO FAMINE.)

At some point you have to admit someone is in the wrong and it will always be the USSR.

(Note the book Babi Yar isn't just about the massacre but also tells the story of a young man up through the 1960s, including the Kreshchatik and 1961 disaster.)

The author himself regretted he published it with so much redacted from it due entirely to USSR censorship.

I suggest everyone take a look at the new publication of the book from this year. (Translated into English new publication I should say.) ((And yes I DO think it is well timed given the attack on the Babyn Yar memorial site last year.)) I should note, that the complete unredacted version is unvarnished truth, and thus some parts are hard to read. It is told from notes written by a boy barely into his teens and this should be kept in mind if you do read the book.

Note from the author of Babi Yar:

"Those who are interested will be able to have some idea of the conditions in which books are published in the Soviet Union, because—as I must stress again—my case was not an exception; on the contrary, it was quite ordinary and typical. Again, the version of Babi Yar distorted and deformed by the censorship was printed in millions of copies and appeared in translation in many languages. People who have read it already but who would like to know the full text need only read in this book the new sections, published here for the first time; especially since they contain the main sense of the book and are the reason why it was written."

(Please note that even though the author, Kuznetsov, was Ukrainian geographically and half Ukrainian from his mother, that he was a Russian speaker and thus used the Russian spelling of Babi Yar in addition to other words. He was well within his rights to use whichever toponym he desired. There is a HUGE difference in him using the Babi Yar form and a Western English speaker using it after knowing the preferred by actual marginalized Ukrainians form. Out of respect for Mr. Kuznetsov I use the form he used in his writing when talking about the book itself. As well as any other words from the book using the Russian spelling.)

Anatoly himself was not Jewish but he grew up right by Babyn Yar. Before and after the massacre there. The massacre also, it should be noted, did not just include Jews but ethnic Ukrainians, Russians, Rromani, the disabled (mentally or otherwise), etc., and Anatoly took great pains to make sure of this fact to anyone who read the book in its full form.

One more note from Anatoly about the book's current form: "In the summer of 1969 I escaped from the USSR with photographic films, including films containing the unabridged text of Babi Yar. I am publishing it as my first book free of all political censorship, and I am asking you to consider this edition of Babi Yar as the only authentic text. It contains the text published originally, everything that was expurgated by the censors, and what I wrote after the publication, including the final stylistic polish. Finally, this is what I wrote." (and I want to note he says PHOTOGRAPHIC FILM of the book which turned out to be a 478 page paperback so this meant he RETYPED ALL ~478 PAGES and had the presence of mind to actually PHOTOGRAPH IT knowing damn well what could happen to his manuscript otherwise. He sewed all of it into his jacket as he fled for asylum.)

(I want to say, foolishly giving people the benefit of the doubt, that when a writer is called a 'Soviet writer' that they think it is somehow all of them actually being allowed to write. When in fact 'Soviet' in front of writer only refers to the time frame they were writing. Many 'Soviet' authors often only had their work published either during the 80s -- the time of glasnost-- or after the Fall but they still get the moniker of Soviet. Or, commonly, like with Anatoly their work is so butchered by censorship as to be practically a different work altogether. It takes a certain amount of courage to publish anyway though, so Anatoly's efforts along with any other author that mirrors his experience should be held in high regard.)

A regime or system of government (since people have tried to 'well actually' about the word regime) that does not allow their people to poke fun or satirize or even tell an unflattering truth with no veiling is not really a regime/system of government one should be defending and yet. When you defend the Soviet Union, you defend their total disregard for Jews, Ukrainians, etc., while at the same time pretending to care about them (The Soviet Union was a Jewish utopia, honest! So long as you ignore all the pogroms and things like the Doctors' Plot that happened post-Holocaust because gosh darnit there were still too many damn Jews in the Soviet Union! Mother Russia, FIX! While also preventing them from going to Israel where they can actually, you know, live. Instead you just whisper about thinking of going to Israel and you got fired and became a 'leech' and yada yada some people waited a decade or more to be allowed to emigrate but hey whatever. Jewish Utopia.)

I leave with one more note from the author of Babi Yar:

"Time and again I set about the task of writing an ordinary documentary novel on the basis of my notes, but without the slightest hope that it would ever be published. Apart from that, something rather strange happened to me. I had been trying to write a straightforward novel in accordance with the rules of ‘socialist realism’—the only guide to writing which I knew and which I had been taught ever since my schooldays. But the truth of real life, which cried out from every line written in my child’s notebook, immediately lost all its vividness and became trite, flat, false and finally dishonest when it was turned into ‘artistic truth’."

And an example of something that was excised by Soviet censors, denoted by brackets paired with what made it into the first editions of the book:

"[I, Anatoli Vasilevich Kuznetsov, author of this book, was born on August 18th, 1929, in the city of Kiev. My mother was Ukrainian, my father Russian. On my identity card my nationality was given as Russian.] I grew up on the outskirts of Kiev, in the Kurenyovka district, not far from a large ravine the name of which—Babi Yar—was known then only to the local people. Like the other parts of the Kurenyovka it was our playground, the place where I spent my childhood."

(I wonder, what was so repugnant about stating he was half Ukr to cause it to be removed from the book entirely?)

#anatoly kuznetsov #anti communism #Babyn Yar #babi yar #antisemitism tag #long post

[qudachuk]

Archive film, survivors’ accounts and expert opinion bear witness to the terrible event at Babyn Yar in 1941. Plus, risky behaviour in Starstruck. Here’s what to watch this evening Continue reading...

[captainmdhridoyhossain-blog]

[ad_1] Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rightfully tweeted, "To the sector: What's the level of claiming by no means once more for 80 years, if the sector remains silent when a bomb drops at the similar web page of Babyn Yar?"I can now not keep silent and take a seat again as those atrocities play out earlier than our eyes. After I gained a decision from a pricey pal to help with the determined evacuation of loads of Jewish orphans and fortify body of workers on the Tikva Kids's House in Odessa following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it struck a non-public chord.When International Struggle II erupted in 1939, my father was once simply two years previous. When my grandfather, a tank commander within the Crimson Military, gained advance intelligence that the Jews in Kyiv can be massacred, he mobilized his army sources and smuggled my grandmother and father to the Kamchatka Peninsula in Siberia, the place they remained till 1945. They have been lucky to have a trail towards survival carved out by means of my grandfather, who went on to steer a brigade to disencumber Hungarian Jews all through the Holocaust. And regardless of being a Jew, he changed into a countrywide warfare hero and gained the Order of Lenin in 1954. Now, with Russia apparently focused on blameless civilians in Kharkiv's central sq., and the 40-mile lengthy Russian convoy drawing near Kyiv, the United Countries estimates that greater than 800,000 refugees have already evacuated Ukraine because the outbreak of warfare. Many of those refugees are girls and youngsters torn aside from their husbands, fathers and brothers who stay in Ukraine, banded of their choice to offer protection to their land and shield their democratic values. It sort of feels historical past is repeating itself not up to one century later, and the heartbreak I believe stems from the working out that this unprovoked warfare, began by means of but every other unhealthy guy, will result in such a lot needless struggling. To stay detached isn't an possibility. All of us have an ethical legal responsibility to halt this tragic struggling thru an outpouring of humanitarian assist to the blameless refugees and sufferers. Additionally it is important that all of us develop into scholars of historical past -- to show evil, to disgrace the darkish forces of bigotry and anti-Semitism that also persist, to name out Russian President Vladimir Putin for attacking civilians and to offer protection to the blameless youngsters in Ukraine who're stuck within the crossfire of his disturbed ambitions. It's not misplaced on me that Putin has attempted to rewrite historical past and justify this warfare with the unhinged statement that he is attempting to "denazify" Ukraine. To invade a country led by means of a proud Jewish guy -- after which to strike, deliberately or now not, the world of a Holocaust memorial web page honoring the demise of 1000's upon 1000's of Jews is as a long way from "denazification" as one may just believe. Zelensky is Jewish. His grandfather, who fought within the Soviet Union's Crimson Military all through International Struggle II, misplaced 3 of his brothers to Nazis. And out of the darkish ashes of the Holocaust, the Jewish President of Ukraine is main the emergence of an international entrance united in opposition to Putin's unjustified warfare. And regardless of Putin's incorrect information and propaganda campaigns, Ukrainians are taking to social media to seize the truth of the Russian invasion. I in my view understand how tough social media may also be. In October 2018, I introduced my very own watchdog group to battle anti-Semitism. 3 weeks later, an anti-Semite killed 11 blameless Jews on the Tree of Existence synagogue in Pittsburgh. As a result of I already had a robust social media following, my nascent group's reaction to that bloodbath exploded on social media. Since then, I have not stopped leveraging the facility of social media to show and grasp anti-Semites publicly responsible.

Within the final week, we have now noticed the facility of TikTok and different social media platforms as Ukrainians seize what they are seeing and experiencing at the flooring.And for all folks around the globe looking at this horrific warfare spread, amplifying the reality on social media is significant, however it isn't sufficient. To fulfill the wishes of Ukraine's exploding humanitarian disaster, we should take motion to offer protection to the blameless youngsters and civilians whose lives had been upended by means of warfare.As Zelensky pleaded to the Ecu Union, "We've a want to look our kids alive. I feel it is a honest one." The youngsters of Ukraine and the Jewish orphans from Odessa want our assist. Allow us to all display up for them. [ad_2] #Opinion #granddaughter #daughter #Jews #escaped #Kyiv #stay #silent

[sixty-silver-wishes]

A note on Tumblr’s Guide to Shostakovich- Russian naming systems, spelling variations, and transliteration

So, in my last post for Tumblr’s Guide to Shostakovich, I talked about Shostakovich’s family background and referred to them in respect to Russian naming systems. For people who aren’t familiar with them, they can get a bit confusing, especially since one person can be referred to in multiple ways, depending on familiarity. Because I was talking about Shostakovich’s family and multiple people who shared the last name “Shostakovich,” I used this system when appropriate to avoid confusion. In cited quotes, you may also see multiple variants of one name, so I thought I’d briefly explain this system for those who aren’t familiar to avoid possible further confusion. I also wanted to explain this system because it denotes formality/intimacy depending on who’s addressing who, which is important to understand when dealing with primary sources.

While I typically refer to Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich in this series as “Shostakovich,” as his father was also “Dmitri Shostakovich,” I tend to refer to him by first name and patronymic to distinguish them from one another. The patronymic is a middle name composed of one’s father’s first name and a suffix (-ovich/evich for men; ovna/evna for women), and addressing someone by first name and patronymic denotes formality. In this series, outside of cited quotes, I will refer to most people by just last name, but usually use first name and patronymic for adults who share a last name. So, Shostakovich’s father will be “Dmitri Boleslavovich,” Shostakovich’s first wife will be “Nina Vasiliyevna,” etc.

Diminutive names also vary based on levels of intimacy. A standard diminutive may be used by relatives and close friends, but more complex diminutives signify greater levels of affection and are typically used either by lovers or from a parent to a child. When referring to Shostakovich in childhood, I may refer to him as “Mitya,” one standard diminutive for “Dmitri,” and the one he typically went by. (However, Vsevolod Meyerhold referred to him as “Dima,” another standard diminutive of the same name.) Very rarely, I’ve read documents where he’s referred to as “Mitenka” or even “Mityushka,” and typically, it’s by his mother. (He may have also had lovers who referred to him in this way, although letters from any are rare, as Shostakovich typically did not keep correspondence.)

Lastly, I want to talk about spelling and transliteration. As there are different ways to transliterate Cyrillic words into Latin, you may see different spellings of the same word across sources. For example, while I typically spell “Dmitri Shostakovich,” you may also see “Dmitry Shostakovitch,” etc. Last names that end in -ов may be transliterated as “-ov” or “off,” although I typically tend to stick with “-ov.” So, “Рахманинов” may be transliterated as “Rakhmaninov,” “Rachmaninov,” or, as the man himself spelled it, “Rachmaninoff,” but I tend to use “Rachmaninov.”

As for transliterations of Ukrainian words, especially in light of the war, I will use transliterations that follow Ukrainian pronunciation instead of Russian pronunciation when applicable- “Kyiv” instead of “Kiev,” etc. The only time I will use different spellings is “Babyn Yar”/“Babi Yar,” and to refer to two different concepts. Both refer to a ravine in Ukraine that was the site of a massacre in 1941 by the Nazis against primarily Ukrainian Jewish civilians; in 1962, Shostakovich wrote his 13th symphony and subtitled it “Babi Yar,” as the first movement was a setting of a Evtushenko poem about the massacre. Because the ravine is in Ukraine, I will refer to the location as “Babyn Yar” when discussing its history, and the symphony/poem as “Babi Yar,” as it was written in the Russian language and titled using the Russian variant of the name.

#shostakovich #dmitri shostakovich #tumblr’s guide to shostakovich #classical music #music history #soviet history #history

[kragnir]

“While Bronitsky and Hammer say they oppose giving Hitler posthumous victories, their rationale is rooted in abhorrent purity arguments.”

Why do their opinions remind me of Adolf Hitler’s racial purity drive so much?

[researchbuzz]

Substance Abuse Recovery, Babyn Yar Massacre, Diverse Voices in Health & Medicine, More: Saturday ResearchBuzz, October 1, 2022

Substance Abuse Recovery, Babyn Yar Massacre, Diverse Voices in Health & Medicine, More: Saturday ResearchBuzz, October 1, 2022

NEW RESOURCES University of Chicago: Fletcher Group, NORC, and ETSU Launch Substance Use Recovery Tool. “Today, NORC at the University of Chicago, East Tennessee State University (ETSU), and the Fletcher Group, Inc. released a mapping tool that enables users to measure the strength of substance use recovery ecosystems for every county in the United States and explore associations with overdose…

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