| When Pope John Paul II came to visit the Babi Yar monument for a time of prayer June 25, 2001, he was warmly greeted by Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich, Chief Rabbi of the Ukraine. They prayed together at Babi Yar, the ravine in which more than 30,000 people—the majority of whom were Jews—were seized in 1941 and executed within one week's time in Kiev by Nazi troops. Over a two-year period, about 200,000 people were killed and buried in Babi Yar in common graves. They were among the 17 million Ukrainians estimated to have died from persecution or famine. Today the ravine is a memorial surrounded by trees and a place of pilgrimage, especially for Jews.
“Thanks to the efforts of Pope John Paul II, there is hope that there will be no more Babi Yars,” the rabbi, who represents a Jewish community of about 500,000, said in a written message later handed to the Pope.
At a meeting with some religious leaders in Kiev, the Pope said the Nazi killings of Jews at Babi Yar was an “episode of murderous frenzy” and one of the most atrocious crimes against humanity recorded in the 20th century, and should serve as “a salutary warning to all. Who can ever forget the immense tribute of blood which they paid to the fanaticism of an ideology propounding the superiority of one race over others? What atrocities is man capable of when he fools himself into thinking that he can do without God!” he said.
Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Vatican Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, said the Pope's visit at Babi Yar was significant. “I think it is an act of historical justice to honor these martyrs,” he said.
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