The Massacre of Babi Yar: Too Terrible to Describe
Exactly eighty-five years ago, German soldiers murdered 33,771 Jews from Kyiv within one and a half days. What took place at Babi Yar was one of the most horrific massacres of all time.
On September 29th and 30th, 1941, the German army, known as the Wehrmacht, continued its conquest of Europe while committing atrocities against Jews, Roma people, and homosexuals. Among these atrocities was the massacre at Babi Yar, a ravine outside Kyiv, Ukraine. The Babi Yar massacre is considered one of the most horrific events committed by Nazi Germany during World War II.
Field Marshal Walter Karl Ernst August von Reichenau, commanding the Wehrmacht's Sixth Army, ordered the killing of Jews in Kyiv after explosions damaged the city. Approximately 150,000 Jews had fled Kyiv before the invasion, leaving around 50,000 Jews, mostly women, children, and the elderly, behind. On September 28th, 1941, the Nazis posted notices in Kyiv, instructing Jews to gather near the train station on September 29th, 1941.
They were required to wear warm clothing and bring documents, valuables, and money. Failure to comply would result in immediate execution.
The notification did not clarify that the Jews would be taken to Babi Yar and executed, nor did it mention the scale of the massacre. Upon arrival at Babi Yar, the Jews were forced to disrobe. Dina Pronicheva, one of the few survivors, recounted the horrific ordeal: "They had to lie down on top of the other murdered people and wait for the shots from above. Then the next group came. For thirty-six hours, Jews came to die."
According to the SS, who boasted of their "work," 33,771 Jews were killed over the course of 36 hours. After the shootings, the bodies were buried alive when the Wehrmacht blew up the edges of the ravine. Few survivors emerged, such as Dina Pronicheva, who played dead during the massacre and later crawled out of the bodies and soil covering the thousands of victims.
Today, Nazi Germany's successor state, the Federal Republic of Germany, is a free and democratic country. However, antisemitism is on the rise, with far-right, far-left, and Islamist groups gaining influence. This resurgence poses a threat to the Jewish community in Germany. The photo accompanying this report features two of the 33,771 victims of the Babi Yar massacre, Malvina Babat and her sister Polina, who were just four and three years old when they were murdered by the Nazis.
Written by urgent.news from The Berlin Spectator's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
