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CNN Live At Daybreak

Pope Pays Tribute to Tens of Thousands Massacred in Ukraine

Aired June 25, 2001 - 08:39   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Pope John Paul II pays tribute to tens of thousands of Ukrainian Jews killed by the Nazis in a 1941 massacre.

LINDA STOUFFER, CNN ANCHOR: It's part of his personal effort to continue his efforts to heal old wounds between Catholics and Jews.

CNN's Jill Dougherty reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At Babi Yar, the Catholic pope reached out to the Jews of Ukraine. Here, in the ravines encircling this modern-day monument, the bodies of approximately 200,000 victims of the Nazis -- 150,000 of them Jewish -- lie in a common grave.

This Nazi film captured by the Soviet army shows in nauseating detail how the executions were carried out, beginning September 29, 1941.

(on camera): The Jews of Kiev were ordered to arrive at a place nearby at 8:00 in the morning with all of their money and valuables. They were marched to this spot, and over the course of five days, they were executed.

(voice-over): After wiping out the Jewish community in Kiev, the Nazis began rounding up Gypsies, Soviet prisoners of war, Ukrainian nationalists and others. They, too, lie together here at Babi Yar. The pope did not speak at the monument. The night before his visit, in a speech to representatives of various religious organizations, he condemned what he called the "murderous frenzy."

POPE JOHN PAUL II (through translator): May the memory of such painful experiences help humanity today, especially the younger generation, to reject every form of violence and to grow in respect for human dignity

DOUGHERTY: Dina Dtyatkovskaya (ph) was only two when her father's family was killed and thrown into another mass grave in Ukraine. She welcomes the pope's gesture.

"This is a man with an indescribable heart," she says. "If he wants peace for all people and that is the basis of his life, then it is very positive." The chief rabbi of Ukraine says the Jewish community that was destroyed 60 years ago is now being rebuilt, and the pontiff's visit will help.

RABBI YAAKOV BLEICH, CHIEF RABBI OF KIEV AND UKRAINE: The pope's visit, in that sense, is strengthening the religious feeling amongst the population here which will, of course, help strength the entire basis of religious life in Ukraine.

DOUGHERTY: The rabbi recalled the fate of some Jewish children whose parents gave them up to Catholic neighbors in order to save them from death. A young polish priest, many years ago, urged they be returned to their Jewish families. That priest was John Paul II.

Jill Dougherty, CNN, Kiev, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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