- Description
- Kiev [Kyiv] burning. German soldiers in the streets, on foot and on horseback. AVs of Kiev. VS, smoke, fires, destroyed buildings. The narrator notes that this is on Hreschatyk, the main street of Kiev. It is important to note, therefore, that the buildings were destroyed not by the invading Germans, but by the retreating Soviets, who planted explosives in these buildings to be detonated once the Germans had occupied them. 01:17:46 Synagogue(?) in Kiev. Firefighters with water hoses, trying to extinguish the fires. More AVs of burned out buildings, block after block of decimated buildings. A leaflet with an order printed on it: "On Monday September 29, 1941, all Jews living in Kiev and its suburbs must show up at 8 a.m. at the corner of Melnikova and Dеgterevskay streets (near the Jewish cemetery). Documents, money, and valuables must be taken. Also take warm clothes, underwear, etc. Those who disobey and are found in/at another place will be shot." 01:19:15 Synagogue.
Translation of Ukrainian narration: Explosions on Khreschatyk [central street in Kiev] and neighboring streets. Fire lasted for two weeks and could be compared to the great Moscow fire of 1812 [In 1812, when Napoleon entered Moscow, Moscow residents decided to burn the entire city so that Napoleon would not be able to take advantage of it.] The Germans surrounded the burning area but could do nothing to prevent the fire from spreading. They could not even move the bodies of their dead soldiers out of the destroyed and burned buildings. On September 28, 1941, a new order appeared on the streets, an order that caused Babi Yar to be forever known as "Babi Yar". The order states: "On Monday September 29, 1941, all Jews living in Kiev and its suburbs must show up at 8 a.m. at the corner of Melnikova and Dokterevskay streets (near the Jewish cemetery). Documents, money, and valuables must be taken. Also take warm clothes, underwear, etc. Those who disobey and are found in/at another place will be shot." In the 20th century fascism decided that the "Jewish question" must finally be solved. Finality meant total annihilation of the entire nation - the Jewish nation - the 11 million European Jews.
- Duration
- 00:03:26
- Date
-
Production:
1991
- Locale
-
Kyiv (Kiev),
Soviet Union
- Credit
- Accessed at United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of TSDKFFA
