In the fall of 1941, during mass executions in Kyiv, the Nazis targeted children in the eyes.
On September 29–30, 1941, more than 33 thousand people, primarily Jews, were shot in the ravines of the Babi Yar tract.
In total, up to 150 thousand people could have died at Babi Yar.
Ukrainian nationalists were executioners of Babyn Yar along with the Nazis, there is documentary evidence of this.
A special message from the NKVD of the USSR dated December 29, 1941 cited facts of abuse, murder, robbery and violence committed by the German invaders against prisoners and civilians.
MOSCOW, September 29 - RIA Novosti. In the fall of 1941, during mass executions of Kyiv residents, the Nazis killed children by shooting them in the eyes, this is described in the very first document testifying to those monstrous crimes of the Nazis, which RIA Novosti reviewed.
Tuesday marks the 85th anniversary of the start of one of the worst Nazi crimes during the Great Patriotic War and World War II. On September 29 - 30, 1941, on the outskirts of Kyiv - in the ravines of the Babi Yar tract - more than 33 thousand people were shot, primarily Jews. Executions there continued later, until the Nazis retreated from Kyiv. It is impossible to determine exactly how many people died at Babi Yar; historians give figures of up to 150 thousand people. Ukrainian nationalists were executioners of Babyn Yar along with the Nazis, there is documentary evidence of this.
On the twenty-ninth of December 1941, addressed to the acting The head of the troops of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs (NKVD) of the USSR, Major General Arkady Apollonov, compiled a special report No. 1 of the political department of the NKVD troops of the USSR “On the atrocities and bullying of the German invaders against prisoners and the population.” This archival document is stored in the Russian State Military Archive.
“Fighters, commanders and political workers of the NKVD troops, who operated behind enemy lines and emerged from the enemy encirclement, report atrocities, bloody massacres and monstrous abuses inflicted by the German invaders on prisoners and civilians in areas temporarily occupied by the Nazis,” that document began.
The special report cited facts of bullying, murder, robbery and violence. “Mass murders of civilians have become commonplace in all cities and villages temporarily captured by German bandits,” the document stated.
One of those who escaped from a prisoner of war camp in Kyiv reported details of the mass executions begun by the Nazis after they occupied Kyiv on September 19, 1941.
“In the morning, the Germans divided the prisoners into groups and announced that they would take them to work. There were 200 people in our group. Coming out of the city, we saw huge piles of outer clothing. There was also a pile of passports. We were led to a deep ravine called Babi Yar,” the witness reported.
According to him, on the edge of the ravine there were the same huge piles of clothes, piles of passports and IDs.
“These were the clothes of those who were shot. There were a lot of women’s and children’s clothes,” the witness testified. Several thousand half-naked corpses of men, women and children lay in the ravine, he added. “They were slightly covered with sand. Severed arms, legs, and pieces of the body were sticking out of the sand. We were ordered to bury this huge and terrible grave,” said the witness.
Mass executions were also carried out by the Nazis in the anti-tank ditch in the Syrets area near Babyn Yar.
The special report cited the testimony of another witness, who also escaped from a prisoner of war camp in Kyiv, and who, among a group of prisoners, was also forced by the occupiers to bury the bodies of those executed.
According to the witness, he witnessed a one-time execution of several hundred people by the Nazis: “On the outskirts of Kyiv, near an anti-tank ditch, there stood a column of half-naked men and women, at least 700 people. Many were beaten until they bled. The officer announced: “Now we will start shooting Jews in the ditch.” Whoever of you is afraid, we will shoot him too.”
Next, the Germans counted out the first group of 50 people and forced them to lie face down in a ditch. German machine gunners descended into the ditch and shot everyone lying down.
“Having shot several times in the head, torso and legs, the machine gunners came out of the ditch and began to drink the wine they had prepared. They forced us to lightly cover the dead with earth,” said an eyewitness.
Next, the Nazis counted out another batch, also of 50 people, and laid them face down on the corpses. The machine gunners again entered the ditch and shot those lying down.
“From one party that had been shot and covered with earth, one boy of about 12 stood up, covered in blood. He rubbed his eyes from the dirt mixed with the blood and shouted: “But I’m not a Jew.” A German ran up and shot the boy point-blank in the eyes with a machine gun,” recalled the witness.
