Zelenskyy has ‘no words’ for claim Hitler had Jewish heritage
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has condemned comments by Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov about Nazism and anti-Semitism – including claims Adolf Hitler “had Jewish blood”.
Despite the international outcry over Mr Lavrov’s comments, Russia’s Foreign Ministry yesterday made further accusations, saying Israel supported the “neo-Nazi regime” in Kyiv.
Mr Lavrov said on Sunday that “some of the worst anti-Semites are Jews”, in an attempt to justify Moscow’s claim it has invaded Ukraine to “de-Nazify” a country whose president, Mr Zelenskyy, is Jewish.
Mr Lavrov added that he believed Hitler was part Jewish.
In an address on Monday night, Mr Zelenskyy said Russia has forgotten the lessons of the Second World War.
“These words mean that Russia’s top diplomat is blaming the Jewish people for Nazi crimes,” he said. “No words.”
Earlier, Israel said Mr Lavrov’s claims were an “unforgivable” falsehood that debased the horrors of the Holocaust. Leaders from western nations also condemned Mr Lavrov’s comments.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid told Kan public radio yesterday morning that Russia “needs to apologise to the Jews, to the memory of those who were killed”.
Mr Lapid said Mr Lavrov should “read a history book”.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said comments by Mr Lapid were “anti-historical” and “explained to a large extent why the current Israeli government supports the neo-Nazi regime in Kyiv”.
“Anti-Semitism in everyday life and in politics is not stopped and is on the contrary nurtured [in Ukraine],” the ministry said.
On Monday night, Mr Zelenskyy said: “Yesterday, for example, Russia’s foreign minister openly and with
out hesitation said that the biggest anti-Semites were allegedly among the Jews themselves, and that Hitler allegedly had Jewish blood.
“How could this be possibly said on the eve of the anniversary of the victory over Nazism?
“Such an anti-Semitic attack by their minister means that Russian authorities have forgotten all the lessons of World War II – or maybe they never learnt those lessons.
“So the question is whether the Israeli ambassador stays in Moscow knowing their new position, whether the relations with Russia remain as usual.
“Because all of this is not accidental. The words of the Russian foreign minister, a ‘great connoisseur of Hitlerism’, are not random.”
Israel has expressed support for Ukraine following the Russian invasion in February. However, it initially avoided direct criticism of Moscow and has not enforced sanctions on
Russian oligarchs. But ties have grown more strained, with Mr Lapid last month accusing Russia of committing war crimes in Ukraine.
In his address, Mr Zelenskyy also said that 1,570 schools and universities had been destroyed or damaged by shelling in more than two months.
He also said a boy, 14, was killed and a girl, 17, wounded in a missile attack on Odesa.
Mr Zelenskyy said that 220 Ukrainian children have been killed by the Russian army since February 24.
“And we still don’t know about everyone because we don’t have access to the temporarily occupied areas of our country,” he said.
“That’s why the whole free world has united so that no one could justify Nazism, nobody could kill children, no one could destroy peaceful cities, as Russia is doing.”
He said Ukraine was continuing to do everything to remove people from the southern city of Mariupol and that the evacuation operation was continuing.
“In the Kharkiv direction, the Donbas, the south of the country, everywhere the situation remains extremely difficult,” Mr Zelenskyy said.
“But I am grateful to each and every one of our defenders who hold the defence.”