Babi Yar

Babi Yar () is a ravine in Kyiv, Ukraine. During the Holocaust, Nazi soldiers massacred 33,771 Jewish people at Babi Yar.  This may have been the worst two-day mass murder of Jews in all of the Holocaust.

Background

Nazi Germany and other Axis countries occupied Kyiv on September 19, 1941.  By September 26, the military governor and the Schutzstaffel (SS) and Police Leader had decided to kill all of the Jews in Kyiv.  They said this would be revenge for German soldiers being attacked by some Jewish guerrilla fighters.

The Nazis tricked the Jews into coming to Babi Yar by telling them they were going to be sent to another place to live.  On 28 September 1941, they put up an order in the town.  Part of it said:

Massacre

Later, one of the soldiers in charge of the massacre would say:Gilbert, Martin (1985). The Holocaust: A History of the Jews of Europe During the Second World War. Holt, Rinehart and Winston. p.202. .

On September 29 and 30, special units of the SS called Einsatzgruppen, and some local Ukrainians who supported the Nazis, took these people to the ravine at Babi Yar.  They made them put all of their things in piles.  They made them strip naked.  The area was so crowded that by the time people heard gunshots, there was no way to escape.  The Nazis took people ten at a time into the ravine, made them lay down, and shot them with machine guns. cited in Berenbaum, Michael (1997). Witness to the Holocaust. New York: HarperCollins. pp. 138–139. Retrieved from Internet Archive, April 26, 2013.

Between September 29 and 30, the Nazis killed 33,771 Jewish people at Babi Yar.United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, "Kiev and Babi Yar," Holocaust Encyclopedia.A Community of Violence: The SiPo/SD and Its Role in the Nazi Terror System in Generalbezirk Kiew by Alexander V. Prusin. Holocaust Genocide Studies, Spring 2007; 21: 1 – 30.Staff. The Holocaust Chronicle: Massacre at Babi Yar , The Holocaust Chronicle web site , Access 17 December 2007

The Nazis buried these people in a mass grave.  People who had survived being shot were buried alive, along with the dead.  Only 29 people survived and were able to escape. The murdered Jews' property was given to Nazi leaders in Kyiv.Nuremberg Military Tribunal, Einsatzgruppen trial, Judgment, at page 430.

Other information
Those killed were mostly or "primarily Jews, but also [non-Jewish] Ukrainians, Roma, Red Army prisoners of war, and others", according to media.https://www.kyivpost.com/opinion/61088. Retrieved 2025-10-03

Related pages

 Iași pogrom
 Kristallnacht
 Odessa massacre
 Jedwabne pogrom
 Rhineland massacres

References

Category:The Holocaust
Category:Geography of Ukraine
Category:1940s in Ukraine
Category:Kyiv
Category:1941 in Europe
Category:Massacres in Europe during World War II