On Sunday, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko met with Viatcheslav Kantor, president of the Russian Jewish Congress (RJC) and the World Holocaust Forum Foundation. At the meeting, they underscored the importance of holding World Holocaust Forums and discussed the state of preparations for the Second World Holocaust Forum in Kiev this September, according to the RJC press service.
The RJC press service reported that Yushchenko talked about the scale and international reach of the upcoming forum. “The Holocaust is not just a Jewish tragedy; it is a tragedy that belongs to the whole world,” Yushchenko stated in the RJC report.

Kantor called the upcoming forum in Babi Yar, Kiev “…a pulpit from which world leaders can come together to take a united stand against the growing dangers of xenophobia and racial intolerance, which raise their heads in an atmosphere of weak historical memory and conscious denial of the Holocaust.”

Kantor thanked the Ukrainian president for his “…careful attention to this problem and thorough study of the issues.” Kantor went on to say that “We, the citizens of Europe, including Russia and Ukraine, are acting not just in the name of Jews, but in the name of all of those who fought and continue to fight fascism in all its past and present incarnations.”

The RJC president also said that their discussion also touched on the many different ways Jews continually remind the world of the sanctity of human life, causing Jews and non-Jews alike to reflect on human values.

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