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Drobytsky Yar is a ravine in Kharkiv, Ukraine and the site of Nazi massacres during the Holocaust in Ukraine. Starting in October 1941, Nazi troops occupied Kharkiv and began preparations for the mass-murder of the local population. Over the following months, members of the Einsatzgruppen murdered an estimated 16,000–30,000 local residents, mainly Jews. Notably on 15 December 1941, when the temperature was −15 °C (5 °F), around 15,000 Jews were shot. Children were thrown into pits alive, to save bullets, in the expectation that they would quickly freeze to death. The site's menorah monument was allegedly damaged by Russia on March 26, 2022 in an artillery exchange during the invasion of Ukraine.

Memorial

In the beginning of the 1990s, a competition was held for the best design of the memorial to immortalize the thousands of citizens murdered by 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.

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 hryvens for the construction. Contributions have also been made by city and oblast administrations, as well as by sponsors.

On 13 December 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 known victims.

The site includes two burials area. One trench is 100 m long and the other is 60 m. The Kharkiv archives contain data on fifteen thousand victims. However, the "Drobytsky Yar" foundation considers the number of victims to be closer to thirty thousand.

180 tons 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.

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".

On 26 March 2022 it was reported that Russian artillery fire had damaged the menorah sculpture. This allegation was made by Ukrainian government officials, then relayed by the Ukrainian embassy in Israel and the Israeli Ambassador to Ukraine Michael Brodsky.

Museum

On 27 January 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 massacre. Excursions to the ravine had already been held before, but the official opening was on 27 January, the anniversary of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp's 1945 liberation (later designated International Holocaust Remembrance Day). Six candles were lit in memory of the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust.

Gallery

• Memorial sign, Drobytsky Yar Holocaust Memorial
• Killing fields at Drobytsky Yar (the sign reads 'Burial place')
• Memorial stone, Drobytsky Yar
• Original Soviet monument (at left) with killing site, Drobytsky Yar
• Killing site with memorial stone, Drobytsky Yar
• Facade of main memorial, Drobytsky Yar (1)
• Facade of main memorial, Drobytsky Yar (2)
• Distant view of main memorial, Drobytsky Yar
• Panorama of killing site with memorial stone, Drobytsky Yar
• Menorah monument, Drobytsky Yar
• The "room of tragedy" with names of victims, Drobytsky Yar
• Detail of Jewish star on padded jacket, Drobytsky Yar

References

1. "Трагедія, про яку дехто не дуже хотів знати. Геннадій КАРПЮК | Історія | Людина". Archived from the original on December 9, 2008. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
2. ^ "Ukraine says Holocaust memorial smashed in Russian strikes near Kharkiv". Times of Israel. March 26, 2022. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
3. Observer
4. Greg Dawson (2009). "A return to Ukraine". Orlando Sentinel.
5. Lonas, Lexi (March 26, 2022). "Russian military damages Holocaust memorial near city of Kharkiv". The Hill. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
6. "Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center on Twitter: "#Russia continues to attack not only the civilian population of #Ukraine but also the places of remembrance. Russians shelled another Holocaust memorial. This time, Russian artillery damaged the Menorah monument in Drobytsky Yar near Kharkiv". Twitter. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
7. Museum website (in Russian) Archived October 8, 2007, at the Wayback Machine

External links

• Official website of the memorial complex "Drobitsky Yar"
• Kharkov Charitable fund "to Victims of Holocaust in Drobitskiy Yar"
• Memorial information

49°56′5.23″N 36°26′55.36″E / 49.9347861°N 36.4487111°E / 49.9347861; 36.4487111

• Kharkiv in World War II
• Jews and Judaism in Kharkiv
• Mass murder in 1941
• Geography of Kharkiv Oblast
• Massacres in Ukraine
• World War II sites in Ukraine
• World War II sites of Nazi Germany
• World War II memorials in Ukraine
• Buildings and structures in Kharkiv Oblast
• Tourist attractions in Kharkiv Oblast
• Holocaust locations in Ukraine
• Holocaust massacres and pogroms in Ukraine
• Buildings and structures destroyed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine