Stone 44
BABI YAR
THE SYSTEMATIC MURDER OF EUROPEAN JEWRY BY GERMANY AND
ITS COLLABORATORS DURING WORLD WAR II WAS LAUNCHED WITH
HITLER’S ATTACK ON THE SOVIET UNION IN JUNE 1941. BY THE
SPRING OF 1943, WHEN THE GERMAN RETREAT BEGAN, THE FOUR
EINSATZGRUPPEN SQUADS ASSIGNED TO HELP IMPLEMENT THE
FINAL SOLUTION, HAD MURDERED 1.25 MILLION JEWS AND
HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF OTHERS. THEY WERE AIDED IN
THE PROCESS BY GERMAN AND LOCAL POLICE BATALLIONS.
OF THE NUMEROUS KILLING GROUNDS, BABI YAR OCCUPIES
A DISTINCTIVE PLACE IN HISTORY IN THIS RAVINE NORTHWEST OF
KIEV, AN EINSATZGRUPPEN UNIT COMMANDED BY PAUL BLOBEL
MACHINE GUNNED 33,771 JEWS ON SEPTEMBER 29 AND 30, 1941.
IN SUBSEQUENT MONTHS MANY MORE THOUSANDS OF JEWS WERE
CAPTURED AND TAKEN TO BABI YAR TO BE SHOT. SOME UKRAINIANS
HELPED JEWS GO INTO HIDING. A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER BETRAYED
THEM. BLOBEL OVERSAW THE CREMATION OF THE BODIES IN 1943.
ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND VICTIMS OF THE MAJORITY OF WHOM WERE
JEWS IN ADDITION TO SOVIET POWS AND GYPSIES DIED HERE.
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