- Headline
-
80,000 Jews Slain At Kiev
- Publication Date
- Monday, November 29, 1943
- Historical Event
-
Germans Kill Thousands of Jews in Mass Shooting Outside Kiev
This database includes 222 articles about this event - Article Type
- Newspaper
- Page Section and Number
- 2
- Author/Byline
- Eddie Gilmore (AP)
- Article Text
- Kiev, Russia, via Moscow, Nov. 28—(AP)—(Delayed)—About five miles outside Kiev to the south not far from the Dnieper River is one of the most horrible places in the world today.
It is called "Babii Yar (Wench's Ravine)." There, Russians say, between 60,000 and 80,000 Jews were killed by the Nazis and their bodies were later burned.
I have been there, but I'll let the story tell itself.
We first were escorted there by Prof. Pavel Aloshin, the chief architect for the reconstruction of the Ukraine.
"I want you to see Baii Yar," he said. "I can't explain it, and I can't explain why the Germans did such a thing."
We got our of our cars and walked over a trench which the Germans had thrown up to defend the highway when the Red Army drove upon Kiev from the South. Beyond the trench was a ravine about 40 feet deep, about 100 feet wide and about a half mile long where it ran into a deeper, wider ravine.
Thousands Brought There
"In September, 1941," said Aloshin, "thousands of Jews were brought here. Their clothes were removed and in small groups they were mowed, down by automatic gunners. Then they were buried. Recently they were dug up and burned by the Germans wanting to destroy all the evidence.
We asked him how he first heard of the slayings, and he said he heard about it from a German architect who bragged about the mass murders.
We asked him if there remained any Russians in Kiev who witnessed the slayings.
"No. I don't believe there were any Russians who saw them," he said. "You can understand that the Germans wouldn't want witnesses for such a crime."
We walked into the ravine with the professor.
"I don't know what we'll find," he said, "because not long ago the Germans came out here as the Red Army was advancing and burned the bodies on huge stoves."
Some Go Crazy
Aloshin said the digging up of the bodies and the burning was done by Russian war prisoners, some of whom went crazy after the grisly business was completed.
Here and there were such things as fingers without hands. At another place there was a half-burned shoe with flesh inside. There were several bones about.
We uncovered lots of broken, burned spectacles. There were several pairs of broken false teeth. - History Unfolded Contributor
- Christopher S.
- Location of Research
- Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com)
Learn More about this Historical Event: Germans Kill Thousands of Jews in Mass Shooting Outside Kiev
- Mass Shootings of Jews During the Holocaust (Holocaust Encyclopedia)
- Mass Shootings at Babyn Yar (Babi Yar) (Holocaust Encyclopedia)
- Kamenets-Podolsk (Holocaust Encyclopedia)
- Operation “Harvest Festival” (Holocaust Encyclopedia)
- Einsatzgruppen: An Overview (Holocaust Encyclopedia)
- “Final Solution”: Overview (Holocaust Encyclopedia)
Download the full newspaper page
See full image on newspapers.com
Newspaper images provided by Newspapers.com
