Kiev, 29 September 1941: The Posted Notice
Kiev fell on 19 September 1941. 5 days later, Soviet mines left behind by the NKVD blew apart the Khreshchatyk district where the German staff had installed itself; the fire ravaged the city centre. The occupier used it as a pretext.
On 28 September, notices are posted throughout the city: all Jews must report the next day at 8 a.m. near the cemetery, at the corner of Melnyk and Dehtiarivska streets, bringing their papers, their money, valuables and warm clothing. Rumour speaks of a "resettlement" to the east. To disobey is punishable by death; the city is sealed, the front lies far behind the German lines, and hiding requires forged papers and the help of non-Jewish neighbours.
To a family, the order seems to offer no way out: the summons resembles a labour deportation, like those known elsewhere.
Occupied Kyiv, 29 September 1941, you are a Jewish family summoned to the assembly: how should you respond to the German order?
The overwhelming majority reported, believing in a transfer. On 29 and 30 September 1941, (, under ), with auxiliaries, led the columns to the ravine of Babi Yar and shot 33,771 people there in 2 days — one of the largest single massacres of the Holocaust. The few who hid or fled, often with help, made up the small minority of survivors. Babi Yar remained a place of execution throughout the occupation: the dead there are estimated at 100,000 to 150,000.
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