Ukraine Gives Israel 'Secret Papers' On World War II Mass Graves

JERUSALEM, Israel -- Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko on Wednesday gave his Israeli counterpart Shimon Peres hundreds of declassified documents shedding new light on mass graves of Jews dating from World War II.

Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (R) shakes hands with Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko during their meeting in Jerusalem November 14, 2007, in this picture released by the Israeli Government Press Office.
Yushchenko, on a three-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories, "surprised" Peres at their meeting in Jerusalem by "giving him a large box containing hundreds of documents and maps with the exact location of mass graves and Jewish graves," Peres's office said in a statement.

Ukraine's security and intelligence bodies recently declassified the previously confidential papers at the request of Yushchenko, who said that "Ukraine wishes to turn over a new leaf in its relations with Israel.

"We do not deny our past, but we are looking towards the future and want Israel to consider us a loyal partner," he was quoted as telling the 84-year-old Nobel laureate.

More than 800,000 Ukrainian Jews were killed during World War II. The most notorious massacre was at Babi Yar, Kiev, when 34,000 Jews were machine-gunned over two days, on September 29 and 30 in 1941.

The killings there continued until 1943, where up to 100,000 victims -- Jews, resistance fighters and Soviet prisoners of war -- are thought to have died.

Yushchenko also gave Peres documents on Jewish underground movements in the Ukraine from the 1920s onwards, Peres's office said.

Source: Times of India