MembersUkraine and the Holocaust

We mustn’t check our compassion for Ukrainian victims of Russian aggression, but can their present ordeal be separated from Ukraine’s horrifically antisemitic past?

Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem. One in every four Jews who perished in the Holocaust died in what is now Ukraine. And not in industrial Nazi death camps, but at the hands of the local population.
Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem. One in every four Jews who perished in the Holocaust died in what is now Ukraine. And not in industrial Nazi death camps, but at the hands of the local population. Photo: Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90

Disclaimer: The catastrophe that came crashing down upon the heads of the Ukrainian people in late February 2022, and which continues to wreak ruin upon millions with no end in sight, cannot be viewed dispassionately. Day in, night out, the sights and sounds of death, displacement and destruction fill our screens and hurt our hearts. This article is in no way designed to diminish that suffering or to excuse the desperate wickedness behind it. Its purpose, rather, is to provide an intrinsically Biblical view of the conflict which, while impacting primarily the Ukrainian and Russian people, so far, has also brought distress and fear to much of mankind.

Wednesday evening, April 27 — the beginning of Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Memorial Day 2022 in Israel; a day all conscientious Gentile Christians should observe with deep shame and reinforced resolve: Shame for Christendom’s ceaseless persecution of the Jews, culminating in the Holocaust. And reinforced resolve to never again be silent in the face of antisemitism, anti-Israelism and anti-Zionism.

The 20th Century Holocaust of the Jewish people stands, indisputably, alone. But it...

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