On 29 September, Ukraine remembers the Babyn Yar tragedy, a horrific event that serves as a symbol of the Holocaust. In just two days, from 29-30 September 1941, over 33,000 Jews were executed by Nazi forces in Kyiv’s Babyn Yar ravine. In total, about 100,000 people lost their lives in Babyn Yar during the Nazi occupation, including those who tried to save the victims. People of other nationalities were also among the victims.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated that the Babyn Yar tragedy is a reminder that the most terrible crimes occur when the world chooses to ignore, remain silent, or be indifferent. He believes that it is important to fight against evil with determination.
The victims of the Babyn Yar tragedy were driven to the ravine, known as the “road of death,” in groups that included men, women, children, and even pregnant women. The scale of this evil is still difficult to comprehend, as stated by Zelenskyy.
Important details of the tragedy include the notices that were posted throughout Kyiv on 27-28 September 1941, ordering all Jews to gather at a specific location with their documents, money, valuables, and warm clothing. Those who did not comply were threatened with death. The first mass execution occurred on 27 September, when 752 patients from a nearby psychiatric hospital were killed. The mass shootings continued for five days, from 29 September to 3 October 1941.
According to German documents, 33,000 Jews were killed in the first two days of mass executions. The victims were forced to walk through a narrow “corridor” formed by Germans standing close together on both sides, armed with sticks, clubs, and dogs. Among the victims were infants, including a two-week-old baby, and the oldest victim was 103 years old.
Dina Pronicheva, a puppet theater actress, was one of the few adults who survived the Babyn Yar shootings. She testified at the 1946 Kyiv trial, describing how she closed her eyes, clenched her fists, and tensed her muscles before throwing herself down before the shot. She landed on the corpses and was not shot.
Historian Mikhail Kalnitsky reports that over 100,000 people were killed in Babyn Yar during the two years of occupation. Half of them were Jews, while the others included prisoners of war, repressed individuals, and partisans of various nationalities.
The first monument to the tragedy was installed in 1976, dedicated to “Soviet citizens, prisoners of war, and officers shot in Babyn Yar.” In 1991, a monument specifically commemorating the Jewish victims, the Menorah, was unveiled, 50 years after the Babyn Yar massacres.
On 1 March 2022, a Russian missile hit a television tower in Kyiv and landed in the territory of Babyn Yar. This resulted in the deaths of five civilian Kyiv residents who were walking past the tower, and five others were injured.
In conclusion, the Babyn Yar tragedy is a dark chapter in history that should never be forgotten. It serves as a reminder of the atrocities that can occur when people turn a blind eye to evil. We must continue to honor the victims and ensure that such events never happen again.
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