Friday, September 25, 2009

Destroying A Place of Memory



Earlier this year, after my return from Ukraine, I wrote about the challenges of interpreting history in Ukraine, framed around my visit to Babi Yar, the ravine where Nazis murdered thousands of Jews and other Ukrainians.

This past week, the Kyiv city government announced a plan to build a hotel on the site of the massacre. A sad, thoughtless, greedy plan that I hope never comes to be.

You can read more at the BBC and the Kyiv Post.

UPDATE: Late this week, the Kyiv City government, under pressure, announced that the hotel would not be built in this location.

Above: The monument at Babi Yar

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