Drobytsky Yar is a ravine 8–12 km south east from
KharkivKharkiv , also spelled Kharkov is the second largest city in Ukraine.It was the first capital of Soviet Ukraine, now the administrative centre of the Kharkiv Oblast , as well as the administrative centre of the surrounding Kharkivskyi Raion within the oblast. The city is located in the northeast...
,
UkraineUkraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south. The city of Kiev is both the capital and the largest city of...
. In December 1941, Nazi troops invading the
Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
began killing local inhabitants over the following year. At the end of this period, some 30,000 people, mainly
JewThe Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
s were killed. Notably on December 15, 1941, when the temperature was −15 degrees Celsius (+5 °F), ca. 15,000 Jews were shot. Nazis also executed
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
ns,
UkrainiansUkraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south. The city of Kiev is both the capital and the largest city of...
and
ArmeniaArmenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
ns at this site.
In the beginning of the 1990s, an artistic contest was held for the best design of the memorial which is supposed to immortalize the thousands of citizens who perished from hands of the Nazis.
Drobytsky Yar is a ravine 8–12 km south east from
KharkivKharkiv , also spelled Kharkov is the second largest city in Ukraine.It was the first capital of Soviet Ukraine, now the administrative centre of the Kharkiv Oblast , as well as the administrative centre of the surrounding Kharkivskyi Raion within the oblast. The city is located in the northeast...
,
UkraineUkraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south. The city of Kiev is both the capital and the largest city of...
. In December 1941, Nazi troops invading the
Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
began killing local inhabitants over the following year. At the end of this period, some 30,000 people, mainly
JewThe Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
s were killed. Notably on December 15, 1941, when the temperature was −15 degrees Celsius (+5 °F), ca. 15,000 Jews were shot. Nazis also executed
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
ns,
UkrainiansUkraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south. The city of Kiev is both the capital and the largest city of...
and
ArmeniaArmenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
ns at this site.
Memorial
In the beginning of the 1990s, an artistic contest was held for the best design of the memorial which is supposed 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 was lasted several years and was then suspended due to the lack of funds. The location of the memorial is at 49°56'5.23"N 36°26'55.36"E.
At a meeting in late August 2001, the
Kharkiv OblastKharkiv Oblast is an oblast in eastern Ukraine. The oblast borders Russia to the north, Luhansk Oblast to the east, Donetsk Oblast to the south-east, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast to the south-west, Poltava Oblast to the west and Sumy Oblast to the north-west...
administration decided to resume the construction of the memorial. The oblast authorities supervised the construction process. The Cabinet of Ministers of
UkraineUkraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south. The city of Kiev is both the capital and the largest city of...
allotted 600,000 hryvnas for the construction. Contributions have also been made by city and
oblastOblast is a type of administrative division in Slavic countries, including some countries of the former Soviet Union. The word "oblast" is a loanword in English, but it is nevertheless often translated as "area", "zone", "province", or "region"...
administrations, as well as by sponsors.
On December 13, 2002, the President of
UkraineUkraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south. The city of Kiev is both the capital and the largest city of...
,
Leonid KuchmaLeonid Danylovych Kuchma was the second President of independent Ukraine from July 19, 1994, to January 23, 2005. Kuchma took office after winning the 1994 presidential election against his rival then-President Leonid Kravchuk...
, opened the memorial.
The main part of the memorial is a monument symbolizing a
synagogueA synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer....
with the
Ten CommandmentsThe Ten Commandments, or Decalogue, are a list of religious and moral imperatives that, according to Judeo-Christian tradition, were authored by God and given to Moses on the mountain referred to as "Mount Sinai" or "Horeb" in the form of two stone tablets...
between its columns; most notably: "Do not kill". The memorial begins with a monument stylized under a Jewish
menorahThe menorah , is a seven-branched candelabrum which has been a symbol of Judaism for almost 3000 years and is the emblem of Israel. It was used in the ancient Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Lit by olive oil in the Tabernacle and the Temple, the menorah is one of the oldest symbols of the Jewish people...
. A road leads from a black
menorahThe menorah , is a seven-branched candelabrum which has been a symbol of Judaism for almost 3000 years and is the emblem of Israel. It was used in the ancient Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Lit by olive oil in the Tabernacle and the Temple, the menorah is one of the oldest symbols of the Jewish people...
to a white main building of the complex. Thousands of
KharkivKharkiv , also spelled Kharkov is the second largest city in Ukraine.It was the first capital of Soviet Ukraine, now the administrative centre of the Kharkiv Oblast , as well as the administrative centre of the surrounding Kharkivskyi Raion within the oblast. The city is located in the northeast...
JewThe Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
s took their last path 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 trenches is 100 metres long and the other is 60 m. The Kharkov archives contain data of fifteen thousand victims. However, the "Drobytsky Yar" foundation considers the number of the dead to be thirty thousand.
180 tons of a
ZhytomyrZhytomyr is a historic city in the North of the western half of Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Zhytomyr Oblast , as well as the administrative center of the surrounding Zhytomyr Rayon...
graniteGranite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite has a medium to coarse texture, occasionally with some individual crystals larger than the groundmass forming a rock known as porphyry. Granites can be pink to dark gray or even black, depending on their...
was used in the construction of the memorial. This is the same material that was used for Lenin's Mausoleum. Due to the
graniteGranite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite has a medium to coarse texture, occasionally with some individual crystals larger than the groundmass forming a rock known as porphyry. Granites can be pink to dark gray or even black, depending on their...
's particular qualities (it has reddish veins), the stones lying at
menorahThe menorah , is a seven-branched candelabrum which has been a symbol of Judaism for almost 3000 years and is the emblem of Israel. It was used in the ancient Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Lit by olive oil in the Tabernacle and the Temple, the menorah is one of the oldest symbols of the Jewish people...
'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".
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
KharkivKharkiv , also spelled Kharkov is the second largest city in Ukraine.It was the first capital of Soviet Ukraine, now the administrative centre of the Kharkiv Oblast , as well as the administrative centre of the surrounding Kharkivskyi Raion within the oblast. The city is located in the northeast...
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.
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