- My great-grandfather was murdered in the Holocaust,
more specifically Babi Yar.
Now, nobody ever really talks about Babi Yar,
and most people don't even know what it is.
That's why I wanna share this story
so that the history isn't forgotten.
Babi Yar is a ravine in Kiev, Ukraine.
It's 150 meters long, 30 meters wide,
and 50 meters deep.
That's all it is.
Was.
- The Nazi's occupied Kiev on September 19th, 1941,
and six days later, September 26th,
they decided to exterminate all the Jews in Kiev.
They put out an order that said,
"All Yids of the city of Kiev and its vicinity
"must appear on Monday, September 29th,
"by eight o'clock in the morning
"at the corner of Melnikova and Dorohozhytska streets.
"Bring documents, money and valuables,
"and also warm clothing, linen, et cetera.
"Any Yids who do not follow this order
"and are found elsewhere will be shot."
This was one of the largest single massacres
in the history of the Holocaust.
In two days, over 33,000 Jews were shot and killed.
I took my mom and my grandfather to Ukraine
to see Babi Yar, and they couldn't believe their eyes.
They lived in Ukraine for years,
and had no idea this place still existed.
(birds chirping)
- What's crazy is this doesn't sound real to me.
Things start to just seem like numbers or facts,
rather than real things that actually happened.
So I decided to do my own research,
and actually listen to people who survived
this terrible event.
- Unfortunately my great-grandfather wasn't
one of the people who survived,
but I'm gonna make sure his story lives on,
so here it is.
My great-grandfather was serving in the Army
when the Germans invaded.
He decided to come back to Kiev
to make sure that his pregnant wife was okay.
When he got there, she was gone.
He didn't know that she fled.
He also didn't know that his neighbor,
who he lived next to his entire life,
ratted him out to the Germans.
So the Germans came, and forced him to march to Babi Yar,
where they undressed him, made him stand on the ledge
fully naked, and shot him.
And,
that's it.
After the war was over,
my great-grandmother came back to Kiev with my grandfather,
and he actually ended up becoming friends
with the neighbor's son.
This whole event was completely brushed under the rug.
Nobody was talking about it.
The Soviet Union was actually thinking
about building an amusement park on top of the ravine.
It's hidden inside a park,
and if you step outside of the forest,
kids are running around, riding their bikes,
families are having a good time.
They have no idea what they're standing on.
So this whole story and experience
taught me how easy it is to forget.
And when you do forget, it'll happen again.
That's why we can't just stand by and watch
when people are being killed, or hurt,
or persecuted against, we need to have a voice,
speak out, be passionate.
Because the opposite of love, is indifference.
(gentle music)