Russia Ukraine war, page-240973

The Kyiv Part of the Holocaust - 150,000 People Killed in 2 Years❗️❗️

83 years ago, on September 29, 1941, mass executions of the Jewish population began on the outskirts of Kyiv. Following the Jews, Roma, underground communists, and Soviet prisoners of war were also shot. The executions at Babyn Yar were not the first mass killings but became the largest Nazi operation at that time in terms of the number of simultaneous victims.

On September 27, announcements were posted all over the city, ordering all Jews in Kyiv to report on the morning of September 29 at the corner of Melnykovska and Dokhturovska streets. They were instructed to bring documents, warm clothing, and valuables. Those who failed to comply faced execution. Babyn Yar was very convenient for carrying out mass executions. The numerous natural ravines and gullies significantly saved the organizers' time and effort since there was no need to dig enormous graves for the bodies. On the morning of September 29, more than 30,000 Jews gathered at the designated location with their belongings. They were then marched towards Babyn Yar under guard. A cordon had already been established there to ensure that no outsiders entered the execution site and that the victims could not escape. Several execution squads operated simultaneously in different parts of Babyn Yar, totaling around 150 personnel. Victims were led to the edge of the ravine, ordered to lie face down, and the executioners shot them in the back of the head. Then a new group of victims was brought in, and they were laid directly on top of the corpses of those previously killed.

This was one of the largest mass executions in human history. Only in the first days, September 29-30, 1941, according to a report by the Einsatzgruppe C under SS Brigadeführer Dr. Otto Rasha, 33,771 Jews were shot in the ravine of Babyn Yar within the city limits of Kyiv. Since most men had been mobilized into the Red Army, the victims were mainly women, children, and the elderly. The youngest among them was just two days old. In October 1941, the shootings continued, and during the entire period of German occupation (1941-1943), up to 200,000 people were killed in the ravine, mostly Jews. Only 29 people were able to escape from the execution ravine.

The execution was carried out by Sonderkommando 4a, led by SS Standartenführer Paul Blobel, and the operational group 5 under the command of Obersturmführer August Meyer. On one day, nearly 17,000 people were killed at the site. Throughout these days, 300 Ukrainian auxiliary police officers, provided by the 195th field commandant's office, actively participated in the shootings.