Babi Yar – September 29-30, 1941 (Ukraine)

Those two days at Babi Yar  will be forever etched in history as the scene of one of the worst atrocities carried out during the Second World War.  SS Commander and Military Governor of the region Major-General Kurt Eberhard and Otto Rasch made the decision to kill all the Jews of Kiev.  The reason for the massacre was cited as retaliation for guerrilla attacks against German troops.

On the 26th September the following order appeared in Kiev. “Kikes of the city of Kiev and vicinity! On Monday September 29th you are to appear by 08.00 am with your possessions, money, documents, valuables and warm clothing at Dorogzhitskaya street next to the Jewish cemetery.  Failure to appear is punishable by death”.

They came in their thousands expecting to be loaded on to trains and resettled. By the time they realized what was happening it was too late. They were led to the Babi Yar  ravine in Syrets, a suburd of Kiev.

The ravine was almost 15 meters deep and 30 meters wide. The Jews were made to undress and lie down on the Jews who had already been shot where a marksman with a sub machine gun came and shot each one in the head. They were quite literally laid in layers.

By the end of two days 33,771 had been murdered. There were only three known survivors. The most famous was  Dina Pronicheva, who fained death, and at nightfall, despite having been covered in earth and left for dead managed to escape.

The massacre stands out as having the distinction of being one of the worst single atrocities committed by the Nazis. Following the massacre of the Jews thousands more Ukrainian Jews and Gypsies were brought here and murdered. Today there are several memorials in the park including the very poignant memorial to the childred killed here.

The Menorah which represents the massacre of the Jews was only allowed after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. It stands with the ravine clearly visible in the background. To get to Babi Yar take the metro to Dorohozhyts’ka station and the park is only minutes away from the exit.