9 On February 1, a memorial sign was desecrated on the site of the former Jewish ghetto, which operated in the city of Proskuriv in 1941-1942.
"NEVER AGAIN!"
Do we really want a repeat of the terrible tragedy of the Holocaust in modern times?
No!
Therefore, our duty is to remind every Khmelnytskyi resident of where the tragedy begins... According to Article 11 of the Constitution of Ukraine, everyone should know what happened on our land in the recent past.
On February 9, 2021, in the city of Khmelnytskyi, near the memorial to the victims of the Holocaust (namely, 16,000 Jews exterminated in the ghetto in 1941-1942), two images of a swastika, painted with a spray paint using a stencil, were discovered. These actions clearly indicate the presence of anti-Semitism and Nazism in our city, which at one time became the beginning of a tragedy of a global scale.
According to Art. 15 and Art. 21 of the Constitution of Ukraine, we have the right to freedom of ideology, and the state must protect these rights. We, as representatives of the Spiritual Council, condemn such actions and ask the authorities to pay attention to this.
After all, at first glance, harmless drawings hint at the history of the Holocaust during World War II and indicate a possible extremist organization that could pose a threat to the city as a whole and Jews personally! It is worth remembering that before the war, about 47% citizens of Jewish origin lived in Khmelnytskyi. There is no point in telling what happened next. Today, there are still Jews left in our city, to whom someone is trying to remind them of the past, or rather, hinting that the same fate may await them now. And that there are still people in the city who approve of the behavior of inhumans!
The questions that concern many people, especially believers (Christians of all denominations), and will always concern and interest them, and in these last times, even more so, are the questions about the Jewish people. Their place in eschatology, in God's plans, their interaction with other peoples, their chosenness, and especially the questions of their influence, position, responsibility, etc.
We see manifestations of anti-Semitism in everyday life, in politics, in various nationalistic, social, and cultural circles, among people of different nationalities...
First of all, anti-Semitism is an internal enmity with God, which is expressed in hatred for the people with whom He has concluded an eternal covenant! This is what the entire Holy Scripture – the Bible – says! God perceives anti-Semitism as an insult to Himself personally, because it is written: “For when God made a promise to Abraham, since He could not swear by any prophet, He swore by Himself…” (Hebrews 6:13). When we touch the Jewish people, we touch the apple of God’s eye: “For thus says the Lord of hosts: For glory He has sent me to the nations that plundered you, for whoever touches you touches the apple of His eye” (Zech. 2:8). Therefore, the retribution for this sin comes not only to the sinner directly, but also to his subsequent generations: “…I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me” (UBIO Exodus 20:5). We do not want curses in Ukraine, but if we do not repent, they cannot be avoided! Therefore, we, as the Spiritual Council of the city, want to warn our believers to resist the sin of anti-Semitism and love God, Who commanded us to love even our enemies!
We also ask the SBU to pay attention to this, because such an action puts psychological pressure on people, and this is a violation of Article 28 of the Constitution of Ukraine, which states that everyone has the right to respect for their dignity!
We also want to convey to every resident of our city: "Those who do not remember the past are doomed to relive it."
So let's be humane towards each other and respect all citizens of Ukraine, regardless of nationality.
Spiritual Council of Khmelnytskyi.
