Attorney General Phil Weiser stood before a somber gathering at the Babi Yar Memorial Park, marking a grave moment of reflection for one of the darkest episodes of human cruelty. Commemorating the massacre which occurred during the Holocaust, Weiser's keynote address, titled "From Babi Yar to Boulder: Confronting Antisemitism with Moral Clarity," juxtaposed the historic tragedy with a current surge in antisemitic incidents, including a recent attack in Boulder. "From the ravine at Babi Yar to incidents of hate right here in Boulder and beyond, we must remain vigilant," Weiser pronounced, according to the Attorney General's Office.
In his impassioned speech, Weiser underscored the importance of remembrance not merely as an honor to history but as a guiding force for the future. His remarks were particularly resonant given his personal history; his mother, a Holocaust survivor, was born in the Buchenwald concentration camp and liberated by the U.S. Army. This poignant connection to the atrocities of the past served to amplify his calls for moral clarity in the face of contemporary manifestations of antisemitism.
Nearly 34,000 Jews were executed by the Nazis at the Babi Yar ravine near Kyiv on September 29–30, 1941, with the ultimate number of victims, including Jews, Roma, Communists, and Soviet prisoners of war, tragically escalated to over 100,000 individuals by 1943. The annual commemoration at Denver's Babi Yar Memorial Park not only honors those who perished but serves as an enduring reminder of the ongoing struggle against hatred and bigotry.
