- Drobytsky Yar
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Drobytsky Yar is a ravine 8–12 km south east from Kharkiv, Ukraine. In December 1941, Nazi troops invading the Soviet Union began killing local inhabitants over the following year.[citation needed] At the end of this period, some 16,000[citation needed] people, mainly Jews were killed. Notably on December 15, 1941, when the temperature was −15 degrees Celsius (+5 °F), ca. 15,000 Jews were shot.[citation needed] Nazis also executed Russians, Ukrainians and Armenians at this site.[citation needed]
Contents
Memorial
In the beginning of the 1990s, a competition was held for the best design of the memorial to immortalize the thousands of citizens who perished from hands of the Nazis. Twenty-nine designs were submitted. The winner was the architect A. Leibfreid. The construction of the complex lasted several years however it was suspended due to the lack of funds. The memorial is located at 49°56'5.23"N 36°26'55.36"E.
At a meeting in late August 2001, the Kharkiv Oblast administration decided to resume the construction of the memorial. The oblast authorities supervised the construction process. The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine allotted 600,000 hryvnas for the construction. Contributions have also been made by city and oblast administrations, as well as by sponsors.
On December 13, 2002, the President of Ukraine, Leonid Kuchma, opened the memorial.
The main part of the memorial is a monument symbolizing a synagogue with the Ten Commandments between its columns; most notably: "Do not kill". The memorial begins with a monument stylized under a Jewish menorah. A road leads from a black menorah to a white main building of the complex. Thousands of Kharkiv Jews took their last steps along it in 1941-1942. These dates are found on the wall of the main arched building. Underground is a hall of memory; the wall will bear the names of the victims who are known to have died.
The territory includes two burials area. One trench is 100m long and the other is 60m. The Kharkiv archives contain data on fifteen thousand victims. However, the "Drobytsky Yar" foundation considers the number of dead to be closer to thirty thousand.
180 tons[vague] of a Zhytomyr granite was used in the construction of the memorial. This is the same material that was used for Lenin's Mausoleum. Due to the granite's particular qualities (it has reddish veins), the stones lying at the menorah's foot seem to bleed.[1]
As of 2006 the names of 4,300 of the 16,000 victims were etched on an underground memorial wall, illuminated by candlelight, in a room called "Room of Tragedy".[2]
Museum
On January 27, 2002, a new exposition in the Kharkiv City Holocaust Museum was officially opened. The exposition was created in December 2001, when Kharkiv commemorated the 60th anniversary of the Drobytsky Yar tragedy. Excursions to the ravine had already been held before, but the official opening was on January 27. Six candles were lit in memory of the six million Jews, who died in the Holocaust.[3]
References
- ^ Observer
- ^ Greg Dawson (2009). "A return to Ukraine". Orlando Sentinel. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/orl-greg-dawson-travels-to-ukraine-071909,0,85243.story.
- ^ Museum website (in Russian)
External links
Coordinates: 49°56′5.23″N 36°26′55.36″E / 49.9347861°N 36.4487111°E
The Holocaust in Ukraine Main article: The Holocaust
Related articles by country: Belarus • Estonia • Latvia • Lithuania • Norway • Poland • RussiaCrimes Babi Yar • Drobytsky Yar • Drohobych • Kamianets-Podilskyi • Lviv pogroms • Mizocz Ghetto • Odessa • Pripyat SwampsMajor perpetrators Paul Blobel • Werner Braune • Hans Frank • Friedrich Jeckeln • Ernst Kaltenbrunner · Fritz Katzmann • Erich Koch • Felix Landau • Otto Ohlendorf • Paul Otto Radomski • Otto Rasch • Walter Schimana • Otto Wächter • Dieter WislicenyNazi occupation and organizations Collaborators Individuals: Volodymyr Bahaziy • Petro Voinovsky • Petro Zakhvalynsky
Organizations: Schutzmannschaft • Ukrainian Auxiliary PoliceGhettos, camps and prisons Bogdanovka • Syrets concentration camp • VapniarkaResistance and survivors Priest's Grotto • Syrets inmate revoltPlanning, methods,
documents and evidencePlanning: Generalplan Ost • Volksliste
Evidence: Graebe affidavitConcealment and denial War crimes investigations and trials Righteous among the Nations Memorials Babi Yar memorials • List of Babi Yar victimsSee also: History of the Jews in Carpathian Ruthenia • Transnistria (World War II) Einsatzgruppen Director Commanders and
higher authorities- Humbert Achamer-Pifrader
- Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski
- Rudolf Batz
- Ernst Biberstein
- Wolfgang Birkner
- Paul Blobel
- Friedrich-Wilhelm Bock
- Otto Bradfisch
- Werner Braune
- Fritz Dietrich
- Erich Ehrlinger
- Wilhelm Fuchs
- Karl Jäger
- Friedrich Jeckeln
- Heinz Jost
- Waldemar Klingelhöfer
- Wolfgang Kügler
- Rudolf Lange
- Erich Naumann
- Arthur Nebe
- Otto Ohlendorf
- Hans-Adolf Prützmann
- Otto Rasch
- Walter Rauff
- Martin Sandberger
- Eberhard Karl Schöngarth
- Franz Walter Stahlecker
- Eduard Strauch
- Bruno Streckenbach
- Martin Weiss
- Udo von Woyrsch
Members and others - August Becker
- Emil Haussmann
- Felix Landau
- Albert Widmann
Notable collaborators - Viktors Arājs
- Herberts Cukurs
- Konrāds Kalējs
Methods and
documentationInvolved
organizations- SS
- RSHA
- SD
- Orpo
- Arajs Kommando
- Estonian Auxiliary Police
- Latvian Auxiliary Police
- Lithuanian Security Police
- TDA
- 8th SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer
- Rollkommando Hamann
- Schutzmannschaft
- Ukrainian Auxiliary Police
- Ypatingasis būrys
Crimes by country Poland- Operation Tannenberg
- Intelligenzaktion
- AB-Aktion
- Operation Reinhard
Lithuania- Ninth Fort
- Kaunas June 1941
- Kaunas 29 October 1941
- Ninth Fort November 1941
- Ponary
Latvia- Burning of the Riga synagogues
- Dünamünde Action
- Jelgava
- Pogulianski
- Rumbula
- Liepāja (Šķēde)
EstoniaBelarus- Łachwa Ghetto
- Minsk Ghetto
- Sluzk Affair
UkraineCategories:- Kharkiv
- Kharkiv Oblast
- Massacres in Ukraine
- The Holocaust in Ukraine
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