KIEV, Ukraine (JTA) — Ukraine’s first lady attended a ceremony in Kiev to honor righteous gentiles who rescued Jews from the Nazis.
Kateryna Yuschenko, wife of Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko and chair of the Supervisory Board of the Ukraine 3000 International Charitable Foundation, joined Zina Kalay Kleitman, Israel’s ambassador to Ukraine, in honoring and awarding the Righteous among the Nations in Galitzky synagogue in Kiev.
Rabbis and representatives of other religions, Jewish leaders and the mayor of Kiev took part Thursday in the award ceremony to honor representatives of 14 families, non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis, rescuing Jews between 1941 and1945. The representatives of the families received diplomas and medals from Kleitman.
“I am proud that you have recognized so many righteous in Ukraine. I am proud also that the State of Ukraine bestows an award on each and every individual you have recognized as righteous,” Kateryna Yuschenko said to the participants.
“In a few days, it will be Shabbat for some of us, then for others of us it will be Sunday, our day of worship. I ask that during these holy days, we pray for a similar thing – that our peoples will no longer be put through trials such as war and hunger, not to mention the Holocaust and Holodomr,” Kateryna Yuschenko added.
According to Yad Vashem there are 22,765 Righteous among the Nations in the world, and 2,246 in Ukraine.
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