The Chief Rabbi of the Russian Federation, Berel Lazar, states that the population of Ukraine and of the Baltic countries participated in the liquidation of Jews during WWII
“I think that in general the Jewish community in Russia would like to show that one cannot not only deny this moment and the Holocaust in general, but also the participation of each nation, which helped us – this is the ideological approach. Not only that someone helped, someone – on the contrary,” said the chief rabbi.
According to him, “Nazism is not only bad because they killed, but also because they killed and justified their actions. Those who helped them, in reality, what happened in the Baltic countries, and in Ukraine – the local people participated in the liquidation of Jews. Not that the Nazis came and the people resisted. There were people who really did a lot, but in general the state helped. Therefore, today when they again try to say that we have our own history, it is scary.”
Lazar stressed that they [Jews] will never forget what the Red Army did for them during WWII.
“We should clearly highlight and describe what happened in reality. For, unfortunately, what we see and the recent situation in Ukraine is scary. For us it is really unacceptable. And we will help explain these issues so that what happened will be clear,” stressed the Chief Rabbi.
Prime Minister Putin thanked the Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar for his consistent work to prevent attempts to manipulate the history of World War II.
"I watch closely what is happening in the world, especially issues relating to the distortion of history and the denial of, let's say, the Holocaust. No doubt, Jewish organizations have always been our consistent allies in everything related to remembering the victims of Nazism and preserving information about the real tragic events of World War II," Putin said while meeting with Lazar on Tuesday.
"We saw it when the monument [to Soviet soldiers] was moved in Tallinn, and we are now seeing it in other regions of the world, where similar attempts are being made to reconsider the truth about the tragedy of World War II. We can see the consistency on the part of the Jewish organizations also in Russia. We agree with you on this issue completely. I would like to thank you for that,” said Putin.
According to an Interfax report of January 26, Lazar said his meeting with Putin is tied to the 65th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland by the Red Army, which is observed on January 27.