OPINION
F
LEV PARANSKY
fifty years have passed
since the words "Babi
Yar," the name of a
ravine on the outskirts of
Kiev, became known through-
out the world. Sept. 29 was
the anniversary of one of the
greatest tragedies in the
history of the Jewish people.
On Sept. 21, 1941, after
many days of bitter fighting,
Soviet troops withdrew from
Kiev. On Sept. 24, a powerful
explosion destroyed the Con-
tinental Hotel, headquarters
of the German army group,
killing many German officers
and soldiers. The German
military authoritie-s im-
mediately declared that the
bomb had been placed by
"Jewish agents!'
On Sept. 26, notices posted
throughout the city ordered
all Jews to report in three
days "exactly at 8 a.m. at the
junction of Melnik and Doc-
torevskaya streets" with all
their vaulables, warm
clothing, underwear, and food
for three days. Those failing
to appear would be "resettl-
ed!'
The Germans scarcely ex-
pected the majority of Kiev's
180,000 Jews to obey their
orders. The expected 5,000-
6,000. But the Kiev Jews
were unaware of the German
extermination record: in
Zhitomir, 60 miles west of
Lev Paransky, a Soviet Jewish
emigre, now lives in Oak
Park.
Kiev, more than 3,000 Jews
were murdered on Sept. 19. In
Radomyshl, 2,000 were shot
on Sept. 6. Prior to the Ger-
man invasion, the Soviet
press maintained consistent
silence on German atrocities,
in the spirit of the Nazi-Soviet
Pact.
When the doomed Jews
were brought to the neighbor-
ing freight yard, they filled
the entire Lukyanovskaya
area as well as the adjacent
cemeteries. They were
ordered to deposit on the
ground in a neat pile all the
belongings they had brought
By the Nazis' own
count, 33,771 Jews
were murdered in
two days.
with them. Then, in tight col-
umns of about 100 each, were
marched to the adjoining
Babi Yar. At the ravine's edge,
everyone was ordered to strip
naked, their clothes piled in
orderly bundles. Then they
were put in a row at the very
rim of the ravine and shot by
machine guns. Children were
thrown alive into the ravine.
The shooting lasted till
dark. Early the next morning
the massacre resumed. New
victims were arriving in
covered trucks. The bodies
were thrown into the ravine.
In the evening, the ravine was
dynamited, to cover with
earth both the dead and those
still alive.
According to Reinhard
Heydrick, chief of the Ger-
man Security Police, 33,771
Jews were executed on Sept.
29-30. Not even the death fac-
tories of Treblinka and
Auschwitz in the summers of
1942-1944 matched this
record.
On Sept. 29, one of the
Ukrainian newspapers
boasted that "the last Jew
has been removed from Kiev!'
This was untrue. In the suc-
ceeding months thousands of
Jews were killed at other sites
around Kiev. Those who could
fight joined the resistance.
The Jews were not the only
victims of Babi Yar. During
the succeeding years Babi Yar
witnessed many more kill-
ings. Thousands of captured
Soviet soldiers and sailors,
railway and factory workers
were killed there.
Both during the war and in
the early post-war years the
Soviet authorities denounced
the Babi Yar crimes. Nikita
Khrushchev, then general
secretary of the Communist
Party of the Ukraine, swore
that as soon as the war was
over a monument would be
erected over the mass grave of
the victims as a permanent
reminder to the Soviet people
and the world.
But in the years that follow-
ed a dramatic change took
place in the Soviet attitude
toward Babi Yar. There was
an outbreak of violent anti-
Semitism in the Soviet
Union. Mention of Babi Yar
completely disappeared from
Soviet press and literature.
Later officials decided to fill
YIVO Institu te
The Tragedy Of Babi Yar
A German photo shows a Jew being executed at a mass grave in
Vinnitsa, Ukraine.
the ravine and build a public
park and stadium. Prominent
Soviet writers, including Vic-
tor Nekrasov and Yevgeny
Yevtushenko, protested this
decision.
But the work was begun. A
huge dam was built to hold
the earth. In February 1961,
the dam collapsed, covering
the roofs of streetcars and
swallowing everything in the
way.
In the press there was not a
single note. It was as if God
had become angry with the
cynicism of the authorities
and attempted to punish
them. But here, again, incor-
rect people were victims.
In March, 1966, 21 years
after the end of World War II,
under the pressure of interna-
tional public opinion, a monu-
ment to the victims of Babi
Yar was erected. Sept. 29 was
declared the Day of Memory
in Kiev.
A memorial complex is be-
ing planned in Kiev. Dona-
tions in the United States for
the Babi Yar Fund are being
collected by the Southern
California Council for Soviet
Jews, P.O.B. 46562, Los
Angeles, Calif., 90046. ❑
Zionism Vs. Racism Is A Fight To Be Ignored
BERL FALBAUM
he world Jewish com-
munity should forget
about the U.N. resolu-
tion which equates Zionism
with racism.
The fight for its revocation
is a waste of valuable political
capital and needlessly saps
Jewish energy which should
be expended on much more
meaningful issues which af-
fect Jews around the world,
including peace for Israel.
Yes, the resolution is
odious. It is reprehensible. It
is an insult to Jews
everywhere. But its revoca-
tion will not change the
United Nations, a cauldron of
anti-Semitism. Nor will it
Berl Falbaum is a Detroit
area public relations executive
and officer of the Jewish
Community Council.
change the attitude of Arabs
toward Israel.
Worse, Jewish anguish over
the resolution has given its
opponents a valuable
strategic political weapon.
Consider President Bush's
timing in calling for the U.N.
to revoke the resolution. It
came in the middle of the
crisis over loan guarantees in
which he became more and
more estranged from Jewish
support in this country.
Suddenly, he makes his sur-
prise announcement and
tempers criticism of his anti-
Jewish political stance. He
hopes to reflect "political
balance!' The gesture was so
transparent that it was
almost insulting.
But Jews reacted not only
favorably — which is under-
standable and in order — but
thankfully as well.
Would it not have been
preferable for Mr. Bush to re-
main silent on the U.N.
resolution and approve the
$10 billion in loans?
Our reaction also gave the
Arabs a political trump card
by publicly indicating that
their support for revocation
would be a litmus test on
whether they really want
peace. One can only suspect
that shrewd Arab strategists,
if they can swallow their anti-
Zionism, are contemplating
supporting the revocation to
show the world how flexible
they are.
They could proclaim that
they once more have
displayed their desires for
peace by helping to revoke a
meaningless resolution while
maintaining their intran-
sigence to any concession
relating to Israel's right to ex-
ist and its security.
The resolution is symbolic
and such symbols are mean-
ingless. Does anyone believe
that if the resolution is revok-
ed, the U.N. will be any less
anti-Semitic? Will anti-
Semites suddenly change
their ugly tune?
Let us be proud of Zionism
and rightfully hurt by those
bigots who would libel the
philosophy which led to the
birth of the Jewish state. But
let us not lose our pride by be-
ing put on the defensive to
wage battles which have lit-
tle, if any, meaning.
Let us use our political
energy not on hurtful but
meaningless resolutions, but
on practical political issues
which will assure the securi-
ty of Israel and all Jews.
There are enough of those
issues around. ❑
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
7