Zoom Program on "Babi Yar" Part One

27 Apr @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm

BABI YAR: TRAGEDY AND TRUTH

We will present a two-part series on the history of Babi Yar, the ravine in Kiev where over 33,000 Jews were shot by the Nazis on September 29-30, 1941, shortly after the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. The killing of Jews, Roma, and other groups continued throughout the two-year German occupation of Kiev. Babi Yar was one of the largest mass shootings of Jews in German-occupied Europe. Together, these murders marked the start of the Holocaust. Although they began before the first Jewish transport to Auschwitz took place in early 1942, for years relatively little was known about them.

Our presentation will cover the tragedy of Babi Yar itself and how the massacre and its unique intent—the annihilation of Europe’s Jews—were concealed because of ongoing anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union. We will also speak about the artists and writers, Jewish and non-Jewish, who ultimately revealed the truth.

The April 27th program will mention the Symphony No.1 In Memoriam to the Martyrs of Babi Yar (1945), by the Jewish Ukrainian composer Dmitri Klebanov, and Lullaby to Babi Yar, a poem in Yiddish by Ovsey Driz (set to music by Rivka Boyarska and sung by Nechama Lifshitz).

After each presentation, there will be an opportunity for discussion and questions.

Part Two is Thursday, May 11 at 7:30 pm.

“We are grateful to the Forward for providing information used in this presentation”