On 9 October 2026, the Bundestag adopted two resolutions marking the 85th anniversary of the mass shootings at Babyn Yar. The motions were submitted by Alliance 90/The Greens and jointly by the CDU/CSU and SPD parliamentary groups. Parliament reaffirmed Germany’s special historical responsibility for Nazi crimes in Ukraine and linked it to the need to continue supporting Ukraine today.
On 29 and 30 September 1941, the Nazis murdered 33,771 Jews at Babyn Yar in Kyiv. During the German occupation, tens of thousands of other people of various nationalities, including Ukrainians, were killed there. The victims of Babyn Yar also included Roma, Soviet prisoners of war, resistance fighters and others persecuted by the Nazis.
Remembrance and support for Ukraine
The resolutions call for greater efforts to preserve the memory of these crimes, support educational and cultural projects, and document eyewitness accounts. They also call for closer cooperation between German, Ukrainian and other European archives, research institutions and memorial sites.
The Bundestag urges the federal government to continue providing Ukraine with political, economic, financial, humanitarian and military support. The resolutions also call for rebuilding infrastructure, helping secure the return of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia, and supporting Ukraine’s accession to the EU and its Euro-Atlantic aspirations.
What these decisions mean
Germany was already supporting Ukraine before these resolutions were adopted. The resolutions reaffirm this policy and call for greater attention to preserving the memory of Nazi crimes in Ukraine. The Greens’ resolution states that, for a long time, Nazi crimes committed on Ukrainian territory did not receive attention in Germany’s culture of remembrance commensurate with their historical significance.
The resolutions contain political calls to the federal government and do not constitute a new law. Their implementation depends on specific measures and funding. The CDU/CSU and SPD resolution explicitly states that implementing these calls is subject to the availability of budgetary funds.
Sources:
https://www.bundestag.de/dokumente/textarchiv/2026/kw41-de-babyn-jar-1222766
https://dserver.bundestag.de/btd/21/081/2108152.pdf
https://dserver.bundestag.de/btd/21/083/2108365.pdf
https://www.uinp.gov.ua/informaciyni-materialy/derzhsluzhbovcyam/informaciyni-materialy-ukrayinskogo-instytutu-nacionalnoyi-pamyati-do-dnya-pamyati-tragediyi-babynogo-yaru
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